


Storm Season

by alterocentrist



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Comedy, F/F, Friendship, Romance, Storm Chasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-03-09 19:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13488327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alterocentrist/pseuds/alterocentrist
Summary: Waverly Earp has come home from university, looking forward to spending her vacation hanging out with her sister Wynonna and her ragtag bunch of storm chasers. She doesn't chase, but is happy to hold down the fort while they go off on expeditions.Nicole Haught arrives in Purgatory, Alberta for the first time in her life, to join her old friend Dolls for a summer chasing storms. She isn't planning to make a career out of it. She's only killing time while she waits on her park ranger training application.The Earp homestead is starting to feel that much crowded.





	1. Chapter 1

It was dark when Waverly’s bus pulled into Purgatory, and it was even darker when she stepped out of Doc Holliday’s car and onto the homestead where they all lived through the summer. Doc had to pick her up from the station because Wynonna was busy. Apparently they had a guest this summer, and she had been busy preparing the spare bedroom in the house.

“That seems unlike Wynonna,” Waverly had told Doc in the car.

Doc had chuckled. “It seems that she has turned over a new leaf,” he drawled. “Also, I believe that our guest is a lady and also a friend of Dolls's.” The statement hung over them as it was the best explanation that Waverly could be getting.

“Fair enough,” she had said.

Waverly instructed Doc to leave her suitcase downstairs, and then, with her backpack over one shoulder, she all but dragged her duffel bag upstairs to her room. The door of the bedroom across from hers was closed, but light streamed through the bottom, and there was the sound of someone shuffling around. And then some profanity. It made Waverly smile. Classic Wynonna. Waverly had been excited to see her.

But she had been on her feet finishing the university library’s end-of-year stocktake for the better part of the day, and then squished on a bus during the evening. If she opened the door to that room, Wynonna would rope her into helping. Or better yet, get Waverly to do the job herself.

And so Waverly dropped her bags in her bedroom, tiptoed to the bathroom to brush her teeth, snuck back into her room, got changed into sleep shorts and a tank top, removed her glasses, and promptly collapsed on the bed. Saying hi to her big sister could wait until tomorrow.

_ Tomorrow _ announced itself to Waverly with the sound of Xavier Dolls's laughter, full and rich and sincere. That was unusual, and enough reason for Waverly to get out of bed and push her glasses onto her face. Dolls rarely laughed, and his laughter  _ never  _ sounded like that. She peered out her window to see him—barefoot, still in his barely-there sleep clothes that Wynonna liked so much—hugging a woman with short red hair.

“Waverly, are you up?” Wynonna’s voice called from the bottom of the stairs. “Waves? Can you come down here?”

Waverly pulled a light, baggy sweatshirt on over her clothes and rushed downstairs. 

Wynonna was standing by the open doorway, smiling fondly at her. “Hey, kid. Didn’t hear you get in last night,” she said. “Exhausted?”

“Yeah, you were busy, and I thought it’d be better to turn in,” Waverly said.

“We’ll catch up later, yeah?” Wynonna said. When Waverly nodded, she jerked her head towards the direction of the doorway. “C’mon, I want you to meet someone.”

Waverly followed Wynonna out the door and down the porch steps, where they approached Dolls talking to his friend. His  _ attractive  _ friend. Waverly tried not to look at her too much, but there was something about the woman that just drew her attention. 

She was tall and lean, with a striking face and a confident disposition. She wore a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, olive green shorts, and Converse low-tops that were a dirty, faded red. Her hair was windblown, and her eyes glinted in the morning light.

“Waves, this is Nicole Haught,” Wynonna was saying.

The question slipped out of Waverly’s mouth: “Sorry? Haught?”

The redhead spelled it for her. “I get that a lot,” she quipped, which earned another laugh from Dolls. Her eyes met Waverly’s. “It’s nice to meet you, Waverly.”

They shook hands and Waverly found that her own hand lingered on Nicole’s for a second.

“Nicole is joining us for storm season,” Dolls explained. “She just graduated from university and she’s taking some time to get more outdoors experience while she waits on her application for park ranger training.”

“Oh, cool,” Waverly said. She turned to Dolls. “How do you two know each other?”

“Dolls was at North Bay the winter of my first year of university, he was working with one of my geography professors on some snowstorm research, and one night we ended up getting pizza together and became friends,” Nicole said.

“That was terrible pizza,” Dolls said.

“That’s as good as pizza gets in North Bay,” Nicole retorted. She addressed Waverly again: “Anyway, we kept in touch, and he said that you needed an extra pair of hands for storm season, and I figured doing something different this summer would be nice, so I said I’d go.”

“And we are so  _ pumped _ ,” Wynonna said. “Come on, Haughtstuff, let’s get you settled in. Doc and Jeremy should be up and getting brunch ready soon. You’ll be staying in the main house with me, Waverly and our other teammate Rosita, who’ll be arriving later today… Dolls and the other two guys stay in the barn.”

“It’s refurbished,” Dolls explained, when Nicole shot him a confused look.

“It’s a regular old man cave in there. They have everything but a kitchen,” Wynonna said. She turned to Waverly. “I’m getting hungry so I’m gonna get Doc and Jeremy up. You mind showing Nicole up to where she’s staying?”

“Of course not,” Waverly said. She looked at Nicole. “Let’s go?”

Dolls handed Nicole her backpack and duffel bag from the back of her car. “Gimme your keys, Nic,” he said. “I’ll go park this over there.” He nodded at the area in front of the barn, where all everyone’s vehicles were parked.

Nicole obliged. “Thanks, man,” she said.

“I’ll see you at brunch,” Dolls said.

Waverly led Nicole upstairs and showed her her bedroom, which she quietly appraised before setting her bags down and kicking her shoes off. Waverly handed her a slip of paper with the wifi password, and then informed her that brunch would be ready in half an hour. And with that, she went back to her own room and got her things together for a shower before brunch.

Brunch at the homestead was often a lively affair, with an energy that didn’t let up even as the weeks of summer went by. In fact, that could be said of any meal that they had together in the summers. It was one of the reasons why Waverly missed home when she was away. Besides Wynonna, they were her family. Waverly had known Doc and Dolls since the summer of her third year of high school, and Jeremy came along the year after that. Doc pretty much stayed at the homestead full time, but Jeremy was based in Vancouver outside of storm season, and no one was quite sure where Dolls went, though sometimes he did turn up for a few days in winter.

Over brunch, Waverly discovered three things about Nicole: firstly, she was born and raised in Ontario; secondly, she had a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Physical Geography from Nipissing University; and thirdly, she had never been to Alberta until that day.

“Purgatory is kind of the armpit of Alberta,” Waverly said.

“More like the asshole,” Wynonna said.

“Could we  _ please  _ watch our potty mouths ‘round the table?” Doc requested.

“Purgatory is a bit of a hole but the town has its charms,” Jeremy chimed in.

“Yes, charms,” Dolls deadpanned. He looked at Waverly, and then at Nicole. “Hey, I have an idea. We’ve got a few days before we’re due to venture out. Waverly, why don’t you show Nicole around town? You know, make sure she knows her way around, and she knows where—and  _ who _ —to steer clear of.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Wynonna said. “If anyone’s an expert on this town, it’s Waverly.”

Waverly addressed Nicole. “I’d love to,” she said. “If you’re up for it, that is.”

Nicole shrugged. “Sure,” she said, almost nonchalantly. “Maybe tomorrow?”

Waverly tried not to react at Nicole’s apparent lack of enthusiasm.

* * *

Storm chasing? Nicole must be crazy. But to be fair, the summers at Algonquin were getting a little repetitive, and North Bay didn’t really have much in the way of affordable accommodation outside a university residence hall, of which she had become ineligible for, on account of graduating. So when Dolls messaged her after seeing her graduation photos on Facebook, Nicole decided that she was heading to Alberta.

Purgatory, Alberta, from the way Dolls described it, sounded like the towns that only existed in Westerns. And as Nicole drove through it, she thought that she could be convinced that she was actually on a film set, and that there would be a cinematic shootout happening as soon as her car had vacated the premises.

Dolls lived on the Earp homestead, which was twenty-five minutes from the township. Soon after she arrived, she met the rest of the team. Wynonna was one of the Earps who owned the homestead, and was a weather photographer by trade. She was snarky and abrasive, but was the clear leader of the crew. Doc Holliday was a meteorology professor and an Earp family friend. He was American, with a sweet Georgian drawl, and had the most expressive eyes that Nicole had ever seen. Jeremy was a self-described summer intern from a well-off Vancouver family. He had just finished his third year of university, and seemed to always be jittery, either because he was nervous or because he was excited. And finally, there was Rosita, who had arrived that evening from Chilliwack. She was a PhD student with all of Wynonna’s attitude and all of Jeremy’s passion. Nicole couldn’t help but be impressed by her.

But the person on the Earp homestead who intrigued her the most was Waverly, the younger Earp sister. Nicole wasn’t entirely sure what Waverly did, only that she was away at university for most of the year, and that everyone else seemed to be especially fond of her. Dolls didn’t mention whether she was a storm chaser or not.

She had the time to catch up with Dolls that evening, having beers together on a misshapen wooden bench—crudely fashioned by Doc Holliday, Dolls had told her—outside the barn. Dolls was not the most lively conversationalist, but his stories about his life on the road had always enchanted Nicole, and for his part, he was a hell of a good listener, even when it came to Nicole’s less exciting adventures.

“How are you finding the Earp girls?” Dolls asked her. And then he continued without waiting for a response. “They’re an interesting pair, huh? Couldn’t be any more different. But you know, one could learn a lot about loyalty by watching those two.”

“Wynonna’s a riot,” Nicole said.

“Wait until you spend time with her after a good chase,” Dolls said, smiling fondly at the thought.

“What about Waverly?” Nicole asked. “Does she chase too?”

Dolls took a swig of his beer as he shook his head. “Nah, she doesn’t,” he said. “Waverly is the brainy one. She studies history over in Calgary. Spends her summers reading and writing and researching. She’s got no interest in chasing at all, which Wynonna is happy about.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, she wants better things for Waverly. None of this travelling around in a hot car for weeks on end trying to chase things you shouldn’t even go near,” Dolls said.

“Are you trying to make me regret coming here?” Nicole teased.

Dolls laughed, short and sharp. “Of course not, Nic,” he said. “I keep coming back to this place, you know. So it can’t be that bad.”

“Sure, Dolls, but you’re not exactly the kind of person who enjoys nice places,” Nicole said. “You couldn’t stand Toronto.”

Dolls shrugged. “It was too busy and the drivers were shit.”

“Montreal?”

“For pretentious hipsters. Portland for broke white people,” Dolls said.

“Vancouver.”

“I would have loved it there if I could afford it.”

Nicole nodded. “So true.”

“You and Waverly should spend time together. I think you two would get along,” Dolls said decisively. “She’s real tight with Jeremy and Rosita, but those two live and breathe chasing so much, sometimes I think she’d rather not keep up. And really, she shouldn’t have to. It’s never going to be her thing.”

“I’m here to be a chaser, though,” Nicole said. Besides that, she was also a city kid who dreamt of being a  _ park ranger _ . She doubted finding any common ground with Waverly.

“Doesn’t matter. You’re not gonna do chase for the rest of your life,” Dolls said. “You think Purgatory is a shithole? Wait till you see some of the places we’re going to. You need to have something to look forward to outside of chasing.”

Nicole took a drink of beer, then hastily wiped her mouth with her forearm. “What have  _ you _ got to look forward to?” she asked.

“Getting to feel smug about the fact that those dickheads probably wouldn’t survive a single mission without me.”

* * *

While Waverly couldn’t figure out why she was nervous about it in the first place, but on Nicole’s third morning in Purgatory, she finally gathered the courage to invite her to see the town. She was pleasantly surprised when Nicole agreed.

Waverly was enjoying the beginning of her summer. The gang was back together and had settled into their usual dynamic comfortably. Last night, she managed to commandeer the living room to watch documentaries on Netflix with Jeremy and Rosita on Wynonna’s prized flatscreen TV. And that morning, she gave Dolls a hand in the kitchen, since they had given up hope on Wynonna preparing something halfway edible.

It was interesting how Nicole was making a space for herself in their group. She projected confidence, but never attempted to ingratiate herself. She was unfailingly polite, but there was a distance to her words. She talked with Dolls the most, but answered everyone’s questions with enough detail as to not be considered unfriendly. She asked questions in return, but never prodded. 

Although Waverly was relieved that Nicole wasn’t the chummy type—she wouldn’t last long with Wynonna and Rosita otherwise—she couldn’t help but find her behaviour a little odd. It was as if Nicole was determined to be a temporary fixture on the team, on the homestead, and in Purgatory.

After breakfast—well, brunch, because nobody on the homestead got up early enough for breakfast—Waverly beckoned Nicole to get in her red Jeep. She got in the driver’s seat and off they went to town.

Waverly parked in front of Shorty’s, the town bar where she worked during high school. She mentioned this to Nicole, who responded with a “Huh,” and a questioning brow, as if to tacitly accept that Purgatory’s townsfolk were so classless as to employ a baby-faced minor at their bar.

They walked around, and Waverly pointed out the grocery store (“Their range is crap, honestly, most people here would rather drive to Calgary to do their shopping.”), the diner (“On the weekends people alternate between there and Shorty’s.”), the real estate agency (“The saddest office in town.”), and the library (“When I was eight, it was my favourite place in the world.”).

“Dolls mentioned that you’re a bit of a historian,” Nicole said.

Waverly giggled and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ears. “He said that? Well, I’m trying to be,” she said.

“What kind of history are you into?” Nicole asked.

“All sorts, but I have a fondness for the frontiers. I think it’s growing up in this place that really cemented it,” Waverly said. “I just finished my second year, but I’m already thinking that I should specialise in the history of women and children on the Canadian prairies.”

Nicole was examining Waverly’s face from under the brim of her Toronto Bluejays cap. “Yeah?” she prompted.

“We’ve always mythologised and romanticised this idea of the western frontiers, but those stories always starred men. But they weren’t the only ones living here,” Waverly said. “I want my research to centre around the lives of the women and children, of the families, who came to settle here.”

“Hell of a place to settle,” Nicole said.

“I know, right?” Waverly said. She decided she wanted to know more about Nicole. “What’s Toronto like?”

“You’ve never been?”

Waverly shrugged. “I haven’t been anywhere much.”

Nicole shoved her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “It’s a big city. It’s loud and energetic most of the time, and there’s always something to do. Anything you want to do, it’s right there at your fingertips,” she said. “I love it there. Great place for a kid to grow up, get some street smarts.”

“And yet here you are, preparing to be a park ranger,” Waverly said.

“I just love the outdoors a whole lot more,” Nicole said. “But can’t a person love both?”

“Of course they can,” Waverly said.

“It’s just, all that land, you know… Pretty much untouched. Well, not  _ untouched _ , but as close as it gets in the twenty-first century,” Nicole said. A small, indulgent laugh escaped her lips. “I think I’m one of those people who romanticise the frontier.”

“Frontier would imply that you are aiming to conquer it, tame it,” Waverly said. “I don’t think you’re that sort.”

Nicole shook her head. “No,” she agreed. “No, I’m not.”

* * *

It was amazing, the way they all managed to fit in the Earps’ small dining room, around their small dining table, for three meals a day. There was no bickering—all right, Wynonna was always bickering with someone, but it was never about what was going on at the dining table. Bumping elbows was a rare occurrence, and everyone said _please_ when they wanted something to be passed to them. This was novel to Nicole. She only had one sibling growing up, which left her sorely out of her depth at Nipissing when it came to communal facilities. And Nipissing was a small school, by Ontario’s standards.

A couple of days out from their first chase, they had their first team meeting after dinner. Nicole had helped Wynonna clean the table and put the dishes away, and then everyone returned. Jeremy and Dolls had their laptops, Doc had a yellow legal pad, and Rosita was tapping away on her phone. 

The meeting began with Dolls explaining the transport situation. “I know last year we did three vehicles but I think this year we’re gonna go with two vehicles. Having someone drive solo got us in some potentially hairy situations,” he said.

Doc raised a tentative hand. “Forgive me for interrupting, Xavier,” Nicole had quickly found out that Doc was the only one with the audacity to directly address Dolls by his first name, “But now that Nicole is with us, doesn’t that mean that no would be driving by themselves if we had the same three-vehicle setup?”

Dolls nodded. “Well, Doc, I just in the interest of everyone’s safety, I think three team members in each vehicle would be best, and I’m implementing a policy that someone has to be up with the driver at all times while another person catches up on sleep to prepare for their driving shift,” he said. “With our plans to go even further north this year, it’s going to be a lot of driving.” He looked around the table at the rest of the team. “That sound good?”

They murmured in assent.

“Uh, just letting you know, that was my idea,” Waverly piped up. For some reason unbeknownst to Nicole, she sat down for the meeting too, sandwiched between Jeremy and Rosita, right across the table from Nicole. But she was holding a thick book, which was closed around the index and middle fingers of her left hand as she spoke to them.

Dolls shrugged. “Yes, it was Waverly’s idea.”

“Attagirl,” Wynonna said.

Waverly smiled and then turned her attention back to her book.

Nicole couldn’t help but watch her. In fact, she ended up tuning out the meeting to watch her. Despite the chatter around her, Waverly actually seemed to be genuinely reading. Every couple of minutes, she would flip the page. She would push her glasses up her nose. She would tuck her hair behind her ears. She would mouth a sentence silently, while nodding in agreement. Not even Jeremy and Rosita reaching for the bowl of jellybeans that Wynonna was hogging was disturbing her.

“Hey, Haughstuff, you all right?” Nicole snapped out of her Waverly-induced trance, thanks to Wynonna’s ridiculous nickname for her. “You were spacing there,” Wynonna told her. “Want a beer? Whiskey?”

Waverly looked up from her book. “Whiskey doesn’t solve everything, Wynonna,” she said.

“It solves most things,” Wynonna said, but she didn’t get up to pour herself a glass.

Rosita reached across Waverly to touch Jeremy’s arm. “Jeremy, maybe you should ask Nicole your question again.” She gave Nicole a pointed look. “I mean, now that she’s paying attention.”

“I was just wondering if you had any special dietary requirements,” Jeremy said. “I know it seems like we eat anything here at the homestead, but it’s actually because we’re here and comfortable and able to source the ingredients that we need -”

“He’s saying he’s vegetarian and Dolls is like, caveman or something,” Rosita said.

“Paleo,” Dolls said.

“You drink beer, though,” Wynonna said.

Dolls simply shrugged in response.

“Anyway,” Jeremy continued, “Things will be way different on the road, so sometimes we gotta plan ahead.”

“He means we’re going to be eating like shit every night,” Rosita said. “I mean, diner food’s all right. Unless you’re vegetarian.”

“Or paleo,” Wynonna said.

“So, is there anything you can’t eat or not?” Jeremy asked.

Nicole shook her head. “I’ve got an iron stomach,” she said.

This made Doc Holliday burst out laughing. “Nicole Haught, where is the most backasswards hicktown you’ve been to?” he asked.

“Probably this place,” she admitted, which earned a laugh from everyone, including Waverly.

“It’s not your stomach that gets tested on the road,” Doc began.

Wynonna held a finger up. “Sometimes it  _ is  _ your stomach,” she said.

Rosita looked at her incredulously. “Who the fuck decides to have the salmon in  _ Libby _ ,  _ Montana _ ?”

Wynonna’s finger stayed in the air. “That was me, yes, and I paid for it.”

“It is not your stomach that gets tested on the road,” Doc repeated loudly, his voice carrying across the table. “It’s your resolve, especially on a diet of beef jerky, gas station hotdogs, and diner coffee.”

“Or, in Jeremy’s case, just working through a head of lettuce every day,” Rosita deadpanned.

Dolls rolled his eyes. “Nic hasn’t got any special food requirements. Can we adjourn this meeting now? It’s getting very hot in this room, and some of us,” he glared at Wynonna, “probably need another shower.”

“I was working out in the fields today,” Wynonna said.

“What fields?” Doc asked.

And with that, the meeting was over. The guys went to the barn, except for Jeremy, who promised that he would watch Netflix with Waverly. Wynonna retreated to her bedroom, grumbling about how she never got a turn on her “big ass TV”, as Jeremy and Waverly made themselves comfortable in the living room. And so Nicole followed Rosita upstairs.

Their bedrooms were right next to each other, with a bathroom in between. Rosita, hand on her doorknob, paused and turned to Nicole. “So it’s you, me and Doc in his Cadillac. I hope you don’t get carsick,” she said.

“Sorry, what?”

Rosita laughed. “Keep up, Haught,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll be fine on the road. Without the distractions.” She said that last part in a lowered voice. Nicole wasn’t sure if it was her usual snarky humour or if she was threatening to blackmail her for staring at Waverly.

“Uh, okay,” Nicole responded.

Rosita laughed again. “You don’t mind if I take first shift in the bathroom first, do you?”

“Not at all,” Nicole said.

“Thanks,” Rosita said, before disappearing into her bedroom.

Nicole entered her own bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed. Had she been so transparent, so unabashed in the way she had been watching Waverly? Why had she been watching Waverly in the first place? Yes, perhaps Nicole thought that she was a little odd for choosing to sit in on a storm chasing meeting while reading a book at the same time, but wasn’t everyone on the homestead a little odd anyway? And Jeremy, he was a  _ lot  _ odd.

No one made a fuss about anybody here. They just let them be. Nicole resolved to start doing the same.


	2. Chapter 2

Waverly set her alarm at five AM, and if that wasn’t enough to get her out of bed, the sound of people shuffling around the house, not to mention the noise going on outside as the vehicles were loaded, should be sufficient. That was the thing with living in the middle of nowhere. The only people around to disturb were the ones who weren’t off on a storm chasing expedition.

The team was ready to go in record time, which impressed Waverly. In their schedules, they usually adjusted for being at least half an hour late. That was mostly because of Wynonna, although Doc did have his moments. But today, by five-thirty, the merry band was dressed, their gear loaded, and the only thing left to do was drive off. Their first chase was going to be south of the border into Montana, about a five-hour drive without stopping. They planned to be there for three nights.

Wynonna walked over to Waverly, her hands shoved in the pockets of her leather jacket. “Man, this doesn’t get any easier,” she said.

“Shh, don’t say that too loudly. People might stop believing your lone wolf schtick,” Waverly teased. She and Wynonna didn’t have the easiest childhood, but they managed to learn to be there for each other. Waverly was probably the first person in the universe to know that even if Wynonna was a foul-mouthed, high-functioning alcoholic daredevil, she knew how to take care of people.

“Don’t forget to lock the doors before you go to bed. Better lock the gate, too, for good measure,” Wynonna said.

“I know,” Waverly said. “And you drive safe. Lay off the whiskey.”

Wynonna laughed. “I will drive safe, but I make no promises about the whiskey,” she said. She opened her arms and urged Waverly forward. “C’mere, Waves.” She wrapped her sister up in a hug.

Waverly hugged her back. Wynonna was right. This didn’t get any easier.

When Wynonna released her, she proceeded to hug every single member of the team, including Dolls. At this point, nobody was surprised that Dolls always hugged back. Everyone was aware that he held a certain affection for Waverly.

And then she got to Nicole. She had only known Nicole for a few days, and she barely knew her, so she didn’t know if a hug would be appropriate. She certainly approached Nicole with the intention of hugging her, but she stopped herself. Perhaps that would be too weird. Nicole didn’t seem like the touchy type either. So Waverly ended up slightly hunching her shoulders and holding a hand out to Nicole, who stared at it, confused. Waverly felt her face turning red. A hug would be less awkward.

“Good luck for your first chase, Nicole,” Waverly said, her hand still hanging in midair.

It took a second for Nicole to respond. “Yes, thanks,” she cleared her throat. “I’ll need it.” Her right hand clasped Waverly’s, and then her left hand came up to cover them both. Nicole’s hands were warm and strong, just how Waverly expected them to be.  _ Imagined  _ them to be.

Wait, why was she imagining Nicole’s hands?

“Come on, let’s get in the car! I want to get breakfast at a Timmy’s before it starts filling up with people,” Wynonna called out from behind the wheel of Dolls's SUV.

Rosita groaned. “You’re the same kind of person that contributes to those long lines! You go to Timmy’s like you don’t live in Canada!” she exclaimed.

“To be fair, the closest Tim Hortons to Purgatory is the one on the outskirts of Calgary,” Jeremy said. “That’s still a ninety-minute drive.”

Dolls cleared his throat. “All right, come on, get in the car while Wynonna’s still in the mood to drive,” he told Jeremy. He looked at Nicole. “Nic, you’re all good with Doc and Rosita?”

That was when Waverly realised that both of Nicole’s hands were still holding hers. Until Nicole hastily withdrew them. “Uh, yeah.” She watched as Doc got into the driver’s seat of his pink Cadillac. “Your car is way cool,” she told him.

Doc tipped the brim of his hat. “Why, thank you,” he said. “Picked her out myself.”

“Won her from a property lawyer with a gambling addiction, actually,” Rosita muttered, before walking over to the car. She got into the backseat. “You take shotgun, Nicole.”

Nicole turned back to Waverly. “See you later, Waverly,” she said.

“Yeah. See you later.” Waverly was more distracted with the tingling feeling in her right hand. Or was that all in her head? She watched as Dolls climbed into the front passenger seat of his SUV, and as Nicole got into the pink Cadillac.

With the SUV taking the lead, the two vehicles started moving out of the homestead.

Wynonna managed to poke her head out of the SUV. “See you in four days, baby girl!” she hollered.

When they left, Waverly locked the gate, and then got back into the house. She decided that she could use another couple of hours of sleep.

* * *

Riding with Doc and Rosita turned out to be enjoyable. Nicole discovered that both of them were way less intense than Wynonna or Jeremy, or even Dolls for that matter. The conversation stayed on light topics, with nobody getting too excited or passionate or emotional. Nicole couldn’t imagine the same thing happening in Dolls's SUV.

Doc was not the greatest driver, but he had a great sense of humour and wasn’t too prideful to be sore whenever Nicole or Rosita offered suggestions on his driving. On the other hand, Rosita was quick and confident. She took bends faster than Nicole ever would, but strangely enough, Nicole never felt unsafe.

After seven hours on the road, they finally settled into their motel in a small town in Montana. Nicole was sharing a room with Rosita and Wynonna. The room had two double beds and a foldout couch. When Nicole volunteered to take the couch, Wynonna vehemently shook her head.

“You’re a giraffe, Nicole,” she said. And then she smirked. “ _ Rosita  _ will take the couch.”

Rosita threw her hands up in the air. “Sure, I  _ do _ love to be volunteered,” she said. But she didn’t protest like Nicole thought she would. Instead, she sprawled out on the couch while scribbling furiously in a notebook.

Wynonna took a nap and Nicole tried to do the same, but she just ended up staring at the ceiling while her thoughts wandered back to Purgatory. Wandered back to Waverly. And that  _ moment  _ they had that morning. Nicole couldn’t figure it out. Waverly didn’t seem all that socially awkward. In fact, the day they spent together in town, she discovered that Waverly was Purgatory’s sweetheart. The girl was just a natural with people. But somehow, around Nicole, her words and actions came off as so calculated that Nicole could feel her discomfort. Nicole tried to remember if there was anything she did that would have made Waverly feel that way, but nothing was coming up. It was like Waverly had always been like that since she arrived in Purgatory.

An hour later, Wynonna woke up and announced that she was going to see if one of the guys would like to accompany her to get dinner. “No seafood, I promise,” she reassured Rosita, before swaggering out of their motel room, without so much as brushing her hair.

Nicole sat up in bed and played a game on her tablet.

Rosita put her notebook down, dug around in her bag for clothes and a towel, and went into the bathroom. She emerged fifteen minutes later, freshly showered. “Water pressure’s not bad for Bumblefuck,” she remarked. And then she looked around the room. “In fact, this whole place isn’t bad at all.”

“Wouldn’t know,” Nicole said, shrugging. “I don’t have much experience with motels.”

“This is probably top tier, especially considering we’re in the middle of nowhere in Montana,” Rosita said. “Though the night is young. We could have bedbugs.”

Nicole’s eyes widened. “Bedbugs?” Her second semester at Nipissing came flashing back to her.

“Pesky little shits. I had a look at the mattresses, though, when you guys were unloading. Seems to be all clear, but we’re not gonna have a definitive answer until we’ve spent a night here,” Rosita said.

“You’re making me paranoid,” Nicole said.

“Oh, don’t be so soft,” Rosita teased. “This is life on the road!” She hung her towel on the back of the room’s desk chair, and then plopped back onto the couch. “Hey, Haught, I got a question for you, and you gotta promise not to be defensive.”

“That’s a strange promise you’re asking me to make.”

“Will you let me ask my question?” Rosita asked, in a way that she really wasn’t  _ asking _ .

“Uh, sure.”

“Was I imagining things or was there some sorta weird energy between you and Waverly earlier?”

Nicole almost flew off of the bed. “What?” Her voice seemed to have gone up an octave. “What ‘weird energy’? Surely there’s no weird energy between me and Waverly.”

Rosita chuckled. “I told you not to get defensive.”

“I’m not!” Her voice went up another half an octave.

“Come on, that handshake you got going on, with the lingering touches? The sexually charged eye contact?” Rosita pressed. “The fact that both of you seem to turn into mumbling messes around each other? What’s going on, huh?”

Nicole nearly choked at her own saliva when Rosita said the words ‘sexually charged’, but she attempted her best poker face instead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit,” Rosita scoffed. “If you’re worried about Wynonna kicking your ass, don’t be, because she’ll probably think it’s hilarious. She’ll just laugh at you.”

“Why would Wynonna think it's funny?”

Rosita’s eyes flashed in victory, as if Nicole’s question had confirmed something for her. “Well, she thinks  _ everyone  _ is out of Waverly’s league. I mean, she’s her perfect little sister, after all. No one’s good enough. In the couple of years I’ve known them, nobody’s been good enough.” Rosita shrugged. “She thinks it’s funny when people try anyway. You should keep that in mind.”

The poker face stayed. “Why should I keep that in mind?”

Rosita laughed. “Oh, Nicole. I’m onto you.”

* * *

Waverly was really good at being alone.

She woke up from her extra hours of sleep after the team left, fixed herself something to eat, and then proceeded to dust and vacuum the entire house. She left the barn alone, because she knew that both Dolls and Jeremy were sticklers for tidiness. She took the garbage out, watered the plants, and worked up the nerve to scrub Wynonna’s bathroom clean. When all that was done, she took a shower and recline on the couch with a non-history book.  _ A Room with a View  _ by EM Forster, in fact, one of her favourites.

About a third of the way into the book, Waverly slammed it shut—well, as much as one could  _ slam  _ a paperback—and tossed it to the other end of the couch. The ridiculous tension between George Emerson and Lucy Honeychurch just kept reminding her of that morning’s awkwardness with Nicole.

But had it really been that awkward? Waverly chose not to hug her because they didn’t know each other well. And then when Nicole eventually shook her hand, she did that thing where she held Waverly’s hand with both of hers. That wasn’t an awkward thing to do, right? People did that to be genuine. Other cultures saw that as a gesture of sincerity.

Waverly replayed the moment over and over in her head, to the point where all she could no longer remember Nicole’s expression, or if she even took any notice of it. In her head, she could only see their hands, and if she squeezed her right hand into a fist and thought hard enough, she could almost feel Nicole’s palms, ever so slightly rough, no doubt from her summers at Algonquin Park.

Perhaps going to university in Calgary, only two hours away from Purgatory, didn’t count as an adventure, but in her two years there, Waverly realised some things about herself. The biggest thing was that she was attracted to other women. Not just innocuous little crushes. She wanted women. She longed for them. She couldn’t figure out how to stop acting like a nervous dork when a pretty girl said something insightful in class. She remembered how much it confused her, even frustrated her, at first. And then one day, she just accepted it as a part of who she was.

In those two years, she went on a date with zero girls and four guys. She slept with only one of those guys. Waverly didn’t know how to define herself yet. She was trying out how  _ bisexual  _ fit, and so far it seemed to be working for her, though it wasn’t something she had tried saying out loud. But there was no rush, no pressure.

She still had to learn to stop being so damn weird around the first pretty girl within a five hundred-meter radius, though. Especially when said girl was so enviably cool and confident. An aspiring park ranger built like a WNBA player. Who was Waverly kidding? Nicole Haught was way out of her league.

She ended up shelving  _ A Room with a View  _ and picking up John Williams's  _ Augustus  _ instead. 

Reading it was a harder slog, but that was exactly what Waverly needed. When being alone got too much, she drove into town to hang out with her Aunt Gus, or made a feeble attempt at killing the weeds out on the homestead. She would watch silly YouTube videos or watch a movie on Netflix before bed. And when Nicole came to mind again, Waverly reached for  _ Augustus _ .

The morning of the day the team were due to return, Waverly was hanging up the freshly washed bed linen when her phone started ringing. She fished it out of the back pocket of her cutoffs and without even bothering to look at the screen, jabbed the green icon and held the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, Waves.” It was Jeremy. “We’re on our way back now.”

“Is everything all right?” Waverly asked.

“Uh, yeah, Wynonna’s just driving and she asked me to call you,” Jeremy said. There was something stilted about his tone. “Waverly, I’ll call you again when we’re about two hours out, but is it okay if you make that mushroom soup? With those bread rolls from that bakery in town?”

“Oh.” It was the height of summer and nobody should want mushroom soup with bread rolls, but Waverly knew why Jeremy was asking for it. “Sure, Jer. Do you want me to get a couple pints of ice cream as well?”

Jeremy hesitated for a moment. “Yeah, go for it,” he said.

“You’re sure everyone’s okay?” Waverly asked.

“I’ll tell you when we get there,” Jeremy said.

“Okay.” Waverly pushed down her irritation. She hated being excluded from stuff like this. “Take care, you guys. Tell Wynonna to drive safe!”

“I will.” Jeremy hung up.

Waverly put her phone back in her pocket. Right after she finished with the linen, she got into her Jeep to pick up what she needed from the grocery store.

A few hours later, the sound of car doors closing alerted Waverly to the team’s presence. She surveyed the kitchen. Her mushroom soup was simmering on the stove, the bread rolls on the counter inside their paper bag, and the buffalo chicken wings were in the oven—she had bought a bag of those plasticky frozen ones on a whim, thinking that the meat-eaters would probably appreciate them.

Waverly wiped her hands on her apron and went to open the door. 

The first person who was already on the porch was Rosita. Nothing looked out of the ordinary with her. She just looked dishevelled from the day on the road. She leaned in to give Waverly a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Cooking smells good,” she said. “Looking forward to it.” She moved past Waverly to get inside the house and disappeared upstairs.

The next person was Jeremy, who looked fine, if not slightly limp from the lack of a substantial vegetarian meal. He hugged Waverly and then excused himself to go to the barn to put his bags away.

And then Waverly saw Wynonna. On instinct, she threw her arms around her sister.

Wynonna groaned. “Hey, sis,” she said. “I’m guessing you missed me.”

When Waverly released Wynonna, she realised that there was a person following close behind her sister. It was Nicole, who did not just look exhausted, but full on  _ ashen _ , the growing shadows under her eyes visible even under the darkness provided by the brim of her Bluejays cap.

“Nicole,” Waverly said. She looked at Wynonna and mouthed, “What happened?”

“Later,” Wynonna mouthed back. “That soup’s smelling good, Waves.”

“Yeah, the food’s nearly ready,” Waverly said. She let Wynonna and Nicole go past her and into the house. She watched as Wynonna had her hand on Nicole’s back, all but pushing her up the stairs, talking to her quietly about having a shower. She couldn’t help but thinking that she wanted to be the one taking care of Nicole, she wanted to be the one who could take on whatever burden she was carrying.

“Hello there, Waverly.” Doc Holliday was on the porch, his hands casually in the pockets of his jeans. “Dolls just went to take a quick shower,” he explained. “He said he’ll come say hi once he feels cleaner.” He chuckled. “Odd man.”

“What happened to Nicole?” Waverly asked.

Doc paused for a moment shifted his weight from one foot to another. He took a deep breath and began to tell the story.

* * *

Chases were meant to be thrilling, until they weren’t.

When they had finally sighted the storm and had driven as close as they could get without putting themselves in harm’s way, there were three phases they had to complete. The first was that Doc, Rosita and Jeremy collected the data. They had mobile weather stations and laptops and fancy gauges that told them information that Nicole couldn’t even decipher. The second phase was Wynonna, who at that point would have already completed set up, taking photographs and video footage of the storm. Most of this was to supplement the scientists’ data, the rest of it was sold off to weather agencies and news stations and a couple were posted on her Instagram account. The third phase only happened when the storm had dissipated enough that they could enter whatever area it had been wreaking its havoc upon. This was where Dolls’s fulfilled his job description as a Disaster Management Surveyor for Public Safety Canada. He took notes and photographs to go towards a written report on that year’s storm season.

“It’s a new posting,” Dolls had told her once. “Storms in Tornado Alley have been getting worse because of climate change. They become disasters more often, so Public Safety needs the records to devise new precautions and management strategies.”

Dolls had also told her that most times, since the prairies were so sparsely populated, the storm wouldn’t hit anywhere inhabited and there would be no damage to human life or property. But there were times when they weren’t so lucky.

The storm they were watching produced two small tornadoes, and even from a distance, Nicole could identify the debris it was picking up. Tyres, window shutters, bits of rebar… She watched, mesmerised, even as Wynonna muttered profanities and as Jeremy wished aloud against the two tornadoes merging together to become a larger one.

It seemed like an age until the tornadoes died down, and the storm clouds appeared to be breaking up. Dolls waited a few more minutes, and then told everyone to get in the vehicles and head towards the town.

The town held up fairly well. Nicole heard Rosita telling Doc that it could have been much worse. It was what she saw on the outskirts that made her stomach drop. They drove through a busted fence to enter someone’s farm. The cottage roof had been completely blown off—which was why the farm attracted their attention anyway—but that was not the worst of the damage.

The farm’s barn had collapsed in a heap of wood, concrete, and corrugated iron. A few metres away from the barn, there was a boy sitting on the ground, soaking wet, with a deep, bleeding gash on his lower leg. He couldn’t have been older than thirteen. He was sobbing, his shoulders slumped, but his gaze was fixed on the barn.

Jeremy had been the first to approach him. Upon prompting, the boy cried out, “I wanted to save her! But they’re dead! They’re all dead!” He continued incoherently. Eventually, Jeremy had figured out and relayed to the rest of the team that was  _ her  _ was not a person, but his beloved pet goat.

And that was when Nicole smelled it. The sharp scent of blood, mingling with the smell of cattle, a pungent undertone accompanying how the earth smelled after it rained. That was when she realised, that if she looked hard enough, there were animals tangled amongst the barn’s remains, and she couldn’t work out whether they were alive or not.

Dolls got her attention and pushed the medical kit in her hands. He told her to tend to the boy while he checked out the barn with Doc and Wynonna. She then heard him telling Jeremy and Rosita to see if there were other people in and around the house. Numbly, Nicole did as he said.

Not even twenty-four hours later, Nicole followed Wynonna into the house on the homestead. The first thing she noticed when she walked in was that the air was thick with the aromas of whatever Waverly had been preparing. The second thing she noticed was Wynonna bumping backwards into her as she took on the force of Waverly’s hug.

“The food’s nearly ready,” Waverly told them.

Nicole felt a hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the stairs. “Come on, Nicole.” It was Wynonna. “A shower will do you good.”

She came back downstairs fifteen minutes later, in fresh clothes. Jeremy and Wynonna were seated at the table, while Dolls ladled soup into bowls and Rosita was fussing with the buffalo chicken wings in the oven. Nicole looked out the window to see Doc having a serious conversation with Waverly, no doubt telling her about what happened.

“Nic, come and sit down,” Dolls said. “Waverly’s mushroom soup is the best.”

“I’ll go get Doc and Waverly,” Rosita said, after she set the plate of buffalo wings down on the table.

Nicole took her usual seat at the table, and was surprised when Waverly sat down beside her.

They ate mostly in silence, with the occasional compliment about how delicious Waverly’s soup was. After a few spoonfuls of the soup, Nicole realised how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten much since last night; before getting back on the road, Wynonna had to practically force feed her a Clif bar.

She buttered a bread roll, which she dunked in the soup, and then helped herself to a few chicken wings.

Afterwards, Wynonna ordered everyone but Nicole and Waverly to clean up in the kitchen. She ushered the two into the living room, where they ended up sitting beside each other on the couch.

Waverly spoke first. “I think it was two summers ago, they came back from up north all shaken up, and nobody could tell me what happened. The most composed out of them was Doc, who just asked me if I could cook something since none of them had eaten that day,” she said. “I only had the ingredients for mushroom soup, and some bread that my aunt had dropped off the day before. And I don’t think they realised how much they needed the food until they started eating.”

“What happened?” Nicole asked.

“They were on a popular chasing route. Two chasing vehicles had crashed into each other, and they came upon the wreck,” Waverly said. “In both cars, the people in the front seats were dead when they got there. They tried to cut the people in the back loose… One of them ended up dying, too, while they were waiting for the ambulance.”

“That’s rough,” Nicole said.

Waverly rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, it wasn’t pretty,” she said.

In her mind, Nicole could see the destroyed barn. The animals. The crying boy. She sighed. “You know, I have never felt so helpless in my life,” she said quietly. When she worked at Algonquin Park, she saw her fair share of injured hikers and dead wildlife, but there, that was just a daily occurrence. A fact of life. She was trained to deal with these incidents. A storm and a tornado devastating a family’s way of life, on the other hand, wasn’t something anyone could be prepared for.

“Have you slept at all?” Waverly asked.

Nicole shook her head. She could feel how tired she was, but every time she closed her eyes, her other senses overloaded with her memories of that farm. 

“Oh, Nicole.” Waverly looked like she didn’t know what else to say. She fidgeted for a few seconds, and then her face lit up. “When they finish cleaning up in the kitchen, do you want me to go make you some tea? Chamomile. It helps sleep.”

“That would be nice,” Nicole said. “Can we just sit here for a while?”

Waverly frowned. “Do you want me to go?”

“No, no.” Nicole was slightly frustrated that Waverly had misunderstood her. “Stay. Please stay.”

“Oh.” Waverly looked relieved. She placed her hand on top of Nicole’s, which was resting on her thigh. “Sure.”

Nicole didn’t have the energy to overthink what just happened. She just went with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're liking this story so far! Please comment and tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you get tornadoes in Purgatory?”

Waverly thought about it. “If I remember correctly, we’ve only had three tornadoes here in my lifetime,” she said. “We do get a fair number of storms. When I was six, I remember our living room windows being blown out.”

Nicole winced. “Jeez.”

“And Wynonna still chose to make a living out of them,” Waverly said. “Crazy, right?”

“Not as crazy as still living here,” Nicole said.

Waverly shrugged. “Storm chasing paid for the renovations and the reinforcements, so short of a giant tornado, we should be okay in the foreseeable future.”

“So you’re saying that you guys probably live in the safest place this end of Tornado Alley, yet you still go out to see those storms?” Nicole asked.

“Call it a symbiotic relationship between human and supercell.”

Since Nicole came back from her horrific first chase, she started talking to Waverly more. Waverly discovered while on a late night trip to the fridge that Nicole continued having trouble sleeping and would sit in the living room downstairs, watching TV with the captions on and the volume turned down low. Waverly ended up fixing tea for the two of them and watching a David Attenborough documentary together.

“You know, watching sea lions mating doesn’t quite have the same sense of majesty compared to when we can actually hear his voice,” Waverly had joked.

The TV was eventually abandoned in the nights after that, in favour of hushed conversations. Their voices probably didn’t have to be so quiet, since Wynonna slept like a rock. No one probably would have minded if they had turned on the main light instead of making do with the lamp. But Waverly didn’t say anything about this, because she enjoyed how intimate it felt, and every time they went up to go to their respective bedrooms, she was relieved that Nicole hadn’t commented in any way.

If Nicole had acknowledged that they didn’t have to inconvenience themselves with whispering and cheap incandescent lighting, Waverly would have taken that as rejection. If Nicole had mentioned enjoying their conversations and thanking Waverly for her friendship, Waverly wasn’t sure if she could handle the humiliation.

Nicole’s ever so casual “Night!”, delivered in the hallway as they opened their bedroom doors, wasn’t what Waverly really wanted to hear, but she was certain she couldn’t cope with anything more sincere than that. 

Waverly thought that their conversations would stop after the fourth night, after which the team left for an overnight chase. She thought perhaps that Nicole just needed the emotional support to get through until she did her second chase and had something else to think about. She was then surprised when in the morning following the team’s return, Nicole asked her if she was feeling okay.

Waverly had woken up early and planned to read on the porch, only to find Nicole there, nursing a cup of coffee.

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked.

“You didn’t come downstairs last night,” Nicole said. “I mean, it’s okay, I was just wondering if you had been tired, or you weren’t feeling well…” She trailed off, and turned her head, avoiding Waverly’s eyes.

Waverly didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t exactly tell Nicole that she assumed that she wouldn’t be there. “I think I feel asleep reading,” she lied.

Nicole quirked an eyebrow. “You think?”

“Well,  _ Sense and Sensibility  _ was on my pillow and I still had my glasses on, so…”

“Waverly, you read a lot of those long history books. I have a hard time believing that you would fall asleep reading Jane Austen,” Nicole said.

Waverly stared at her. “Are you trying to poke holes in my story?” She tried to sound like she was teasing and not hoping.

“Uh, no,” Nicole said. “I’m just saying, you’re the last person I think would fall asleep reading.”

“Well, I  _ have  _ read it a few times,” Waverly said.

Nicole nodded at the book in Waverly’s hands. “Is that  _ Sense and Sensibility _ ?”

“No.” Waverly resisted the urge to hide or cover the book. She hadn’t even read  _ Sense and Sensibility  _ in years. She didn’t know why she chose to bring it into her false story. “Different one,” she added, when Nicole looked confused.

“Reading two different books at once?” Nicole seemed impressed. “I couldn’t do that.” She finished off the rest of her coffee. “Anyway, it’s mine and Rosita’s turn to cook brunch this morning, so I should get onto that. I’ll see you around?”

“I live here.”

Nicole looked at her amusedly, and then chuckled. “I know that, Waverly.” With that, she went back into the house, closing the front door behind her.

Waverly sat on the porch swing and opened the book to where her bookmark was.

Later that night, after everyone else had gone to bed, she went downstairs. Nicole was already sitting on the couch. She smiled when she saw Waverly.

Waverly was envious of Nicole’s smile. It was earnest and unguarded, without a trace of self-consciousness. Waverly had seen her flash the smile at Wynonna, at Dolls, at every other member of the team, at the handsy town drunk… Once she had even caught Nicole smiling at her own reflection when she had rushed inside after getting a taste of the prairie winds.

It was the smile of a person who didn’t get trapped by their thoughts.

Nicole leaned back on the couch. “Well, here I was about to start without you,” she said.

“Really?”

“Of course not.” Nicole laughed. “I don’t think I can make tea the way you do.”

“I’ll teach you how to make it,” Waverly said.

“Nah.” Nicole just sank further into the cushions. “Then we’ll stop having reasons to hang out.”

Waverly didn’t respond. She went into the kitchen, filled and turned on the kettle, and occupied herself with the mugs and teabags. She tried not to decide on the possible implications of what Nicole meant by what she said.

* * *

They were in a motel in a town outside of Edmonton. After checking into their rooms, they gathered in the guys’ room to have pizza for dinner. The pizza was okay. From their weeks on the road, Nicole had worked out that it was hard to get pizza wrong, but most efforts outside of the big cities would be fairly pedestrian. She could live with that. She understood what Doc meant about how this was more a test of resolve.

She had gotten into the habit of messaging Waverly. Once, she had asked Wynonna if Waverly had ever shown interest in joining them on a chase.

Rosita, who had been around, laughed and said that Waverly wasn’t the adventurous type.

But Wynonna disagreed. “Waves can be adventurous,” she said. “But she’s the sort of person who wants like a ten-point itinerary for every adventure she goes on. Wrong personality type for chasing violently unpredictable clouds.”

Nicole had sent Waverly a picture of the immediate view from the motel room’s window. Prairie as far as the eye could see.  _ The middle of literal nowhere _ , she had typed.

Waverly’s reply came in less than five minutes:  _ You mean  _ this  _ isn’t nowhere?  _ It was followed by a picture of even more prairie land.

Nicole examined the picture. She didn’t recognise the view from the homestead.  _ Where’s this?  _ she keyed in. “Oh, jeez,” she muttered, after hitting Send. She could recognise one bit of prairie from the other now? Had she been in Alberta that long? She hadn’t admitted it to herself before, much less thought about it, but the Earp homestead in Purgatory had become home. She had become comfortable there. She wasn’t quite sure whether to attribute it to the environment… Or the company…

Wynonna’s phone started ringing just as she was in mid-bite. “Shit,” she said, around a mouthful of pizza. She placed her half-eaten slice back in the box and wiped her hands hastily on a napkin. “It’s Waverly. I gotta take this.” She got to her feet and answered the call. “Hey, baby girl!” she exclaimed, before walking into the bathroom.

“Doc, you’ve been around the longest,” Nicole said. “What’s the deal with the Earp sisters?”

“What do you mean?” Doc asked.

“I think Nicole wants to know the messy history of the Earp family,” Rosita said.

Doc dabbed at his lips and moustache with a napkin. “Oh, Nicole, the Earps are  _ very  _ messy, indeed. I’ll have to give you the condensed version.” He took a drink of lemonade, and then cleared his throat. “Ward Earp was a drunk who died of liver cancer. A cousin of his took Wynonna and Waverly in. Wynonna was thirteen and Waverly was six. Not even a year later and Wynonna’s doing her first stint at juvenile detention.”

“What did she do?” Nicole asked.

“Serial shoplifting. The government tried several solutions,” Doc said. “When juvie didn’t work, they put her in group homes, then foster homes, so she could start going to school.”

“Why didn’t they put her back with Waverly?”

“Wynonna was a recidivist. The government thought that being back with her family would be the ultimate reward for sustained good behaviour, so they kept her away for as long as possible, since she kept making more trouble,” Doc explained.

“That sucks.” Nicole felt a surge of sympathy for Wynonna. She was a smartass, and they didn’t have the greatest attitude, but she was protective as hell and was the coolest head in a chase. It didn’t matter if she was an absolute terror of a teenager. No kid deserved what she went through.

“It sure does,” Doc said. “Anyway, Wynonna manages to get enough credits to graduate high school, lands a spot at a community college over in Saskatoon, doesn’t even come home after graduation… She just bought a car and photography equipment and travelled all over Tornado Alley.”

“What about Waverly?” Nicole asked. “Wynonna never returned all those years.”

“Dolls found me near the border, offered me a contract with Public Safety, and suddenly I had the means to go back to Purgatory to try and take care of my sister.” Wynonna had emerged from the bathroom. She smirked. “Dolls didn’t know at the time that I was trying to sell my photography to people who got rich in Silicon Valley and didn’t know what the hell to do with their money. I started making quite the killing. Enough that I could throw myself into storm season and not work for the rest of the year.”

“You’d still head out to shoot blizzards, though,” Rosita said.

“And how about that time you went to New Mexico to take pictures of a sandstorm?” Jeremy asked.

“I was there on vacation! The sandstorm just  _ happened _ .” Wynonna shrugged. “Gotta scratch that itch, dude.” She looked at Nicole. “When I got my shit sorted enough for community college, everything I did was so I could get Waverly back,” she told her. “But do you know how hard it was? Trying to get a decent job with a two-year certificate? Then I heard how much those weather stringers were making in Tornado Alley, so I decided to join in, try to see if I can make a bit of money to move back to Purgatory and fix up the homestead, so Waverly and I could move back there and be a family again. It took me a couple of years but I got there. And now me and Waves have a good thing going for us, even if I have to be away for most of the summer. This is my way of making it up to her, you know, for being such a dick growing up.”

“Wow,” Nicole said. She could tell that Wynonna and Waverly were close, perhaps closer than most siblings, but it was lovely knowing the reason why their bond ran that deep.

“In a way we’ve all become family here,” Doc said. “We work together, we play together, and sometimes,” he looked at the others with a humorous glint in his eye, “sometimes we even take care of each other.”

“And now that you know all that, you’re one of us now, Haughtstuff,” Wynonna said. She huffed. “Can we stop with this sapfest and start eating again? Maybe crack open the beers I got in the fridge?”

“Sorry, I asked for the sapfest,” Nicole said.

“Whatever, it’s all good,” Wynonna said, while taking the initiative to walk to the fridge herself. “Want a beer?”

“Sure,” Nicole said.

As Wynonna handed out the chilled cans of beer, Nicole realised that this was the first time in a long time that she was part of something close to a family. If she had been given the choice, she wouldn’t have picked these people as friends, but as a group to have fallen into, Nicole couldn’t have asked for any better. 

* * *

It was raining when the team had arrived back from their latest expedition. None of them looked pleased about it, except for Nicole, who climbed out of the driver’s seat of the pink Cadillac. Her Bluejays cap was on backwards, and she was looking up at the sky, smiling as raindrops fell on her face. “That feels nice,” she said, to no one in particular. She then set her gaze straight ahead, locking eyes with Waverly, and then she began walking towards her.

Waverly practically flew down the porch steps to hug her.

As soon as she did it, she realised that it was her first time giving Nicole a hug. And that Nicole was hugging her back. Soon after that was the realisation that she  _ missed  _ Nicole.

Nicole was tall, taller than Wynonna or Rosita, so Waverly had her arms around her Nicole’s neck. Nicole’s arms had found their way around Waverly’s torso. She bent down a little and pulled Waverly close, so that Waverly’s chin could rest on her shoulder. “Hey, Waves,” she said quietly.

“Hey.” Waverly couldn’t remember if Nicole had ever called her that before, but she liked the way it sounded.

They let go of each other. All Waverly wanted was to be in Nicole’s arms again.

“Come on,” Nicole said. “Let’s head inside.”

“Good idea.”

Later that night, they caught up over tea and slices of leftover cake that Gus had dropped off earlier. The next morning, Nicole woke up with a runny nose and a fever. Waverly and Wynonna tended to her, with Wynonna telling stories about how on their trip, Nicole had spent the most time out there in the wind and rain, trying to be a hero.

“Knight in shining Gore-Tex,” Waverly joked, but she fully meant it.

Wynonna snorted. “No, she doesn’t even deserve to be called that. She decided she would go out there _ without _ a jacket on, and then she didn’t get to change out of her wet clothes until like, six hours after that,” she said.

Waverly was horrified. “She didn’t bring spare clothes in her backpack?”

“Yes, that was dumb,” Nicole said feebly, from where she was on her bed, propped up on pillows. “But can you two stop talking about me like I’m not here?”

“Shut up and eat your soup, Haught,” Wynonna said.

When Nicole had gone to sleep and everyone else had turned in for the night, Wynonna invited Waverly to spend time out on the porch, bottle of whiskey tucked in the crook of her elbow. Waverly agreed. They sipped whiskey and talked. Waverly updated Wynonna on the town gossip, Wynonna told Waverly outrageous chase stories, Waverly told Wynonna a little bit about what she had been reading. Conversation hadn’t always come easily to them. Waverly was grateful that they got past that stage.

“So, what’s the plan, baby girl?” Wynonna asked. “Are they gonna fast-track you for your PhD?”

Waverly laughed. “That never happens. You know they want you to pay them first.”

Wynonna pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, I know. Insane amount of money,” she said. “But you won’t be wasting it. Hell, they should be the one paying you. You’re the smartest kid I know.”

“Hardly a kid anymore.”

“Ripe old age of nineteen. I can’t believe it myself sometimes,” Wynonna said.

“Oh, shut up,” Waverly said. She finished her whiskey, and then held her glass out to Wynonna so she could pour some more. “Uh, I was thinking about something,” she said.

“You’re always thinking,” Wynonna said.

“I was thinking that I want to do my masters, and maybe even my PhD, elsewhere,” Waverly said.

“What, like in Edmonton?”

“I meant outside Alberta, Wynonna.” Waverly waited for her sister’s reaction.

Wynonna nodded. “Never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth, to be honest,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked.

“I don’t know.” Wynonna poured herself some more whiskey, and took a sip. “I didn’t think you’d want to be too far away from Purgatory. I know you like feeling comfortable where you are.” She examined the whiskey in her glass. “You know, when I got that Public Safety contract, if I had it my way, I would’ve gotten you out of here. Move somewhere else. Somewhere you can see the ocean.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Gus said it would be unfair to move you, not when you had been doing so well at school. She told me I shouldn’t drag you into my mess. That if I wanted to go up and down Tornado Alley chasing storms, I should at least give you some stability by staying in Purgatory. And so here we are,” Wynonna explained.

Waverly tried to imagine it. Being fifteen, moving away from Purgatory, away from Alberta, living with Wynonna in a different town. Perhaps even in a  _ city _ . She would’ve had the opportunity to create a new identity for herself. She wouldn’t have to be Waverly Earp, the girl with the absentee mother and the dead drunk daddy and the older sister who spent her teenage years being the town terror. She could’ve been someone else. “I think I would’ve liked leaving and starting over somewhere else,” she said.

Wynonna looked at her with a soft, curious expression. “Yeah?”

“Sometimes I wish I was more like you,” Waverly said.

“Like what? A directionless lunatic who takes pictures of storms?” Wynonna laughed.

“No, I mean, you’re not afraid to want things, and you’re not afraid to go after what you want.” Waverly may not always agree with her sister’s recklessness, but there was so much more she admired and envied about Wynonna. “I want to be like that. I want to be the type of person who says, ‘I wanna see the ocean,’ and actually does it.”

Wynonna frowned. “Who says you can’t be like that?”

“Lots of people. Gus,” Waverly shrugged, “sometimes, you.”

“Waverly, I’m sorry. I want you to know that I trust you, and that I’m trying not to get in your way.” Wynonna sighed. “You, out of anyone, deserve to go after what you want. You’re too smart to be scared away from that.”

Waverly shook her head. “No, I think I’m scared because I’m too smart.”

* * *

Nicole still wasn’t well enough by the time the next chase rolled around. With the exception of going to the bathroom and going downstairs for meals, she had been confined to bed for the past four days. Whatever she had caught had knocked her down. On the fifth day, she was well enough to not want to be in bed for most of the day, but that was when Wynonna and Dolls told her that it would be a good idea to sit the next chase out.

She didn’t want to do that. Chasing was the wildest, perhaps the most pointless, activity she had ever engaged in, but she had grown attached to it. Nonetheless, she understood that being in a stuffy car for hours, while suffering from post-nasal drip and Doc Holliday’s crazy driving, was probably not a good way to spend her time. And so she begrudgingly agreed. Two mornings later, she stood at the doorway, to see the team off. It was five in the morning, and while they said goodbye, Dolls made her promise that she would go back to bed as soon as they left.

Jeremy and Rosita were the last to go, and they looked the most sympathetic. “I know it sucks, Nic,” Jeremy said. “But this happens to everyone during their first storm season. You do put your body under a lot of stress, with the travelling.”

“Not to mention the shitty food,” Rosita said.

“And putting yourself in high risk situations,” Jeremy added.

Rosita shrugged. “Also, having a rain jacket and a change of clothes help.”

“Wow, you guys are never going to stop going on about that, huh?” Nicole asked.

Dolls’s SUV and Doc’s Cadillac drove out of the homestead. Nicole watched from the porch as Waverly locked the gate behind them, and then walked back up to the house. She was still in her sleep clothes—tiny cotton shorts in purple plaid and a black hoodie over a loose beige shirt, proving to be quite distracting for Nicole—and the bluish dawn cast a lovely light on the skin of her bare legs.

She smiled up at Nicole. “It’s just you and me now,” she said. “Do you want to head back to bed?”

Nicole, reminded that she was going to be alone with Waverly for the next few days, opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She couldn’t process Waverly’s question. Did she mean that she wanted them to be in bed… together? She tried to say something again, but to no avail. Being unwell was getting to her head. Waverly’s outfit was not helping.

“Nicole, hey. Are you all right?” Waverly said. “Come on.” She ushered her back into the house, and then closed and locked the door behind her. With a hand on the small of Nicole’s back, she guided her towards the stairs. “Go back to sleep. I’ll make us some pancakes in a couple of hours.”

“Pancakes?” Nicole managed to say.

“Pancakes,” Waverly repeated. “Made with buttermilk, served with butter and…” she trailed off. “Wait.” Her eyes widened. “Please tell me you’re a pancake person.”

“I’m an anything person,” Nicole said.

“Good,” Waverly said. “Then there’ll be pancakes in a couple of hours.” She pushed Nicole up the stairs. “Come on. Off to bed you go!”

Later on, Nicole woke up on her own. As soon as she opened her bedroom door, the smell of pancakes filled her nostrils. She brought a hand to her stomach, suddenly realising how hungry she was. She went downstairs and walked into the kitchen and dining area. The table had been set for two, and in the middle was a plate of pancakes stacked high. Beside it was a dish of butter and a bottle of maple syrup.

Waverly was in the kitchen, attending to pancakes that were still cooking on the stove. She was dressed in denim cutoffs and a baggy t-shirt that was tied up at the hem, exposing a sliver of her stomach when she moved a certain way. She seemed to not have noticed Nicole standing there. She balanced two pancakes delicately on a spatula, she walked past Nicole and placed the pancakes on top of the pile. She set the spatula down on the counter, wiped her hands on a tea towel, and finally acknowledge Nicole’s presence. “You’re just in time!” she said brightly. “Sit down, I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

Nicole obliged.

A moment later, Waverly returned with two steaming mugs. She placed one in front of Nicole, and one by the other plate. She sat down. “Dig in.”

They started eating. Nicole didn’t know why she was surprised, but Waverly’s pancakes were  _ delicious _ . Warm, fluffy, and just about melted in her mouth. She finished her stack of three without hesitating, and only paused when she found herself reaching for some more.

Waverly was watching her. She chuckled. “ _ Now  _ you’re shy? It’s just you and me eating here.” She brought a forkful of pancake to her mouth, as if to emphasise her point.

Nicole got two more pancakes.

The next day, over breakfast, Waverly looked like she wanted to ask Nicole something. She kept looking up over her bowl of oatmeal, and then looking back down, somewhat aggressively mincing her sliced strawberries into even smaller pieces.

“You okay?” Nicole asked.

“My aunt, Gus, I told her that this week I’d help her clear out her attic. I was wondering,” Waverly bit her lip, “if you’re feeling better, maybe you’d like to come along? Only if you’re feeling better, though!”

Nicole didn’t even have to think twice. She had been holed up at the homestead for a week, and though the last few days, she had walked around outside, she had enough of looking at the empty prairies surrounding them. “I’m feeling much better, actually,” she told Waverly. “I’d love to come.”

“Are you sure?” Waverly asked. “You don’t have to.”

“Waverly.” Nicole placed a hand over Waverly’s. “I’m okay, I promise. If I get tired, I’ll take a break.” She smiled at Waverly, trying to get the worry in her eyes to dissipate. “Are you really gonna leave me here all alone?”

Waverly relented. “Well, it would be nice to have an extra pair of hands.”

They got dressed, got into Waverly’s Jeep, and drove into town to visit Gus’s house, which was located on one of Purgatory’s few residential streets. Her neighbourhood almost passed for a suburb. 

Gus was a small, wiry lady, her skin freckled and wrinkled from years of work under the sun. She shook Nicole’s hand enthusiastically and brought both of them to the third floor of her house, where the attic was located. She had them starting in on the boxes, instructing them to sort everything in piles. After a couple of hours, she excused herself to prepare sandwiches and lemonade for lunch, and called Nicole and Waverly down when they were ready.

They got plenty of work done and ended up staying for dinner. It was past eight when they drove back to the homestead.

“You feeling okay?” Waverly asked Nicole.

“Tired, but not unwell,” Nicole reassured her.

When they arrived at the homestead, Waverly was about to go upstairs, presumably to turn in, when Nicole said her name. “Uh.” She shifted from one foot to another as Waverly looked at her expectantly. “Should we have some tea?” she asked. They had tea at Gus’s after dinner, and even if Nicole had just spent the whole day working in close quarters with Waverly, she didn’t want to be apart from her just yet.

She was relieved when Waverly agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took a while! I started work again so life got in the way. I'm trying to work on the other chapters as much as I can but there might be a bit of a wait. I appreciate your patience and your comments!


	4. Chapter 4

Waverly had wanted to be alone with Nicole almost as soon as Nicole first stepped on the homestead. Now that it was actually happening, she wished that she just wasn’t so damn nervous all the time. She didn’t mean to be nervous; she could hold her own around other people she was attracted to. She had planned to get through the next few days keeping it light and friendly with Nicole, letting her set the pace for their interactions. But it seemed that Nicole wanted to spend more time with her than Waverly expected her to. She didn’t account for that.

Here was Nicole, standing not even three metres away from her in Gus’s attic, rifling through a box of old documents. It was their third and last day at Gus’s, and Waverly was amazed that Nicole still wanted to come along. If you didn’t like cheap beer and rodeo, there was nothing much else to do in Purgatory, but Gus’s musty attic was nobody’s idea of a good time, especially in the summer heat. Not even Waverly’s, and she liked looking at old crap. Yet Nicole hadn’t complained once, and seemed to at least  _ feign  _ excitement each time she pried open a box. Hell, Waverly doubted that she wasn’t even faking. She often caught her smiling that stupidly sincere smile of hers.

“Whatcha got?” Nicole broke the silence, as if she felt Waverly’s eyes on her.

“Some of Uncle Curtis’s old camping stuff. I’m going to put it in the donate pile,” Waverly said. She closed the box and moved it roughly to the area of the floor that was designated for donations. “What about you?”

“Purchase records of farm equipment, mostly,” Nicole said. “They had a farm?”

Waverly nodded. “Yep, back when they were younger. When Uncle Curtis’s health started going, Gus decided it was probably a good idea to move to town where the doctor was near and where he couldn’t use living on a farm as an excuse to work ‘round the clock,” she explained. “Their farm was about the same size as the homestead, but Uncle Curtis actually knew how to take care of it. When Daddy died, he fixed up the land on the homestead so Wynonna and I wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

“Sounded like a great guy,” Nicole said.

“He was the best of them,” Waverly said. She turned to the pile of unopened boxes. As she lifted one off the pile, she heard Nicole curse behind her. She whirled around, nearly dropping the box in the process. “Nicole? What happened?”

“Fuck,” Nicole said through gritted teeth. “Paper cut.” She held up her left hand, where blood was already trickling down from her finger to her wrist.

Waverly gently set down the box she was holding and approached Nicole. She cringed at the sight of blood. “Jeez,” she said. “How’d you manage that?”

“One of these cattle auction records is on some  _ very  _ fancy paper,” Nicole said. “In Purgatory—who woulda thunk it?” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Uh, Waves, I don’t really want to bleed out here in your aunt’s attic.”

“Oh, stop being dramatic. You’re not going to bleed out,” Waverly said. “Hang in there, I’ll grab some paper towels and the first aid kit.” She rushed downstairs, grabbed what she needed while offering a quick explanation to Gus, and then went back upstairs. She dug around the first aid kit and began cleaning up Nicole’s hand.

Nicole snorted as Waverly gingerly wiped up the blood with a paper towel.

“What’s so funny?” Waverly asked, as she turned the bottle of antiseptic fluid over on a cotton ball.

“You just reminded me of someone,” Nicole said.

“Who is it?”

Nicole shook her head. “Just someone.”

Waverly dabbed at Nicole’s finger with the cotton ball. She watched as Nicole winced. “Tell me,” she said.

“My ex-girlfriend, Shae,” Nicole said. “We met while I was working at Algonquin Park. I had fallen forward into some shrubs and grazed my forehead. She had to clean me up with my own first aid kit.”

Waverly ignored the twinge of jealousy in her stomach. Nicole had talked about being a lesbian before, but she never talked about specific women. Waverly was starting to think she preferred it that way. “You fell forward into some shrubs,” she repeated, as she unwrapped a bandaid.

Nicole laughed. “My job that day was to make sure the animal nests and burrows were in places where no humans could trample on them. Push them out of sight if need be, and all that. I was checking a bird’s nest and lost my balance,” she said. “Shae happened to be walking on the trails at that exact time, and she helped me out.”

“How come I remind you of her?” Waverly asked, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer or not. She held Nicole’s hand in both of hers as she gently placed the bandaid on Nicole’s finger.

“In the weirdest way, actually. She was a med student. Didn’t react to the blood at all,” Nicole said. “While she was taping gauze onto the cut on my head, I managed to get her number.”

“You weren’t even worried about if you had gotten concussed or not?”

“Maybe I should have been. But she reached into my pocket,” Nicole tapped on her chest, indicating where the pocket had been, “for my notepad and pen, and wrote her number down.” She shrugged. “Easy to forget about a possible concussion after that.”

“Fair enough.” Waverly smiled, despite herself. “So why is she an ex? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“It was a summer romance. I was pretty hurt about it when it was over, but after a few months I saw it for what it was,” Nicole said. “She was great, but she wasn’t my epic love story or anything.”

Waverly closed the first aid kit and scrunched up the bloodstained paper towel. “All done,” she said, perhaps unnecessarily. “I’m gonna take this downstairs.”

“All right,” Nicole said. “Thanks, Waverly.”

Waverly was about to walk out of the attic, when Gus appeared in the doorway, telling them to come downstairs and have lunch.

* * *

The following morning, Nicole woke up, went downstairs, and saw that Waverly had already left. Nicole thought that was a little odd, but seeing as she was no longer unwell, and that they didn’t have to go to Gus’s anymore, she figured that Waverly had some personal errands to run. She went for a jog around the homestead, and then made herself some breakfast. She even caught a couple of episodes of a sitcom she liked on Netflix. Still no Waverly.

Nicole reminded herself that Waverly had a life outside of looking after the storm chasing strays who came to stay with her family over the summer. Besides, the team were due back tomorrow, so Nicole should enjoy the alone time before it got chaotic on the homestead again. And so she took a shower, and then caught up on her emails and social media.

After midday, there was still no sign of Waverly. She hadn’t left a note, and Nicole didn’t know her mobile number. The lack of communication bothered her.

She got into her car and drove into town. Her intention was to look for Waverly, but if Waverly saw her first, she wasn’t going to make a big deal of her disappearing. She’d just tell her that she was running her own errands.

There had been a change in their dynamic recently. Gone were the days of Waverly nervously stepping around Nicole, as if she made a conscious effort to limit their interactions. Now they were talking late into the night over cups of tea, and making each other breakfast, and cleaning up attics together. It was great that Waverly was feeling more comfortable around Nicole, but Nicole was finding it harder to hide her attraction to her. It was easier when Waverly hadn’t been as friendly.

Nicole drove around town, hoping to spot Waverly’s red Jeep. She also hoped that Waverly was the only one in town who had a red Jeep, because she couldn’t remember the licence plate number. She had to admit that it was a little pathetic, but she just  _ had  _ to know where Waverly was.

No sign of the Jeep by Gus’s, by Shorty’s, or by the grocery store. Which left one place, if Nicole was thinking along the correct lines.

Sure enough, there was a red Jeep parked outside Purgatory Library.

Smiling to herself, Nicole found an empty parking space, and went inside the library. She had been in here a handful of times, usually with Waverly or Jeremy, and the young woman working at the checkout desk immediately recognised her. “Good afternoon,” Nicole said.

The woman smiled and returned the greeting. “Are you looking for Waverly?” she asked.

Nicole hesitated, but the woman just kept smiling. She cleared her throat. “Uh, yeah,” she said. “Where is she?”

“She usually hangs around French nonfiction,” the woman replied. “It’s that way.” She pointed to the far corner of the library.

Nicole thanked her and made her way to that section. She worked her way down each aisle until she found Waverly, sitting on one of the couches that was pushed up on the back wall, reading a thick volume that was open on her lap. Nicole approached her, and trying not to startle her, spoke quietly: “Hey there.”

Waverly’s head snapped up. For a second, there was a hint of horror in her face. “N-nicole,” she stammered. “What are you doing here?”

“I was running errands. And then I saw your Jeep here,” Nicole fibbed. “Didn’t see you this morning.”

“I was, uh, running errands too,” Waverly said.

Nicole gestured at the empty space beside Waverly. “Can I sit?” she asked. When Waverly nodded, she sat down. “You can read French?”

“Yes, but I’m not reading a French book right now,” Waverly said. “I don’t think anyone else in Purgatory reads French, that’s why I always hang out here. Quietest place in the library.”

“Good tip,” Nicole said. She took off her Bluejays cap and rested it on her lap. “I think I’ve been in this town too long. You know that librarian up the front? She knows me already. When I came in, she knew I was looking for you.”

“Oh, you mean Chrissy? She’s a friend,” Waverly said. “I should introduce you two properly, actually. Her dad is the lead park ranger for this area.”

“You mean her dad is Randy Nedley?”

Waverly looked at Nicole. “How do you know Ranger Nedley?”

“I haven’t met him, I Googled before I moved here,” Nicole explained.

“Well, maybe you can talk to Chrissy and see if you can meet him,” Waverly said.

“That would be nice.”

They sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds. Waverly fidgeted with the corner of the hardcover book, while Nicole tried to take an interest in the labels of the French nonfiction shelves. The two of them not talking only made Nicole hyperaware of how tense Waverly had become beside her.

“Waverly. Are you okay?” Nicole asked.

Waverly closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before opening them again. “I wasn’t actually running errands,” she said. “I’ve just been thinking about something a lot. Uh, I came here to get my mind off things.”

Nicole quirked a questioning eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“It’s just getting hard, being on the homestead.” Waverly’s cheeks began to redden. “With you,” she eventually added.

“Oh.” Nicole racked her brain. All this time she thought that she had been doing a good job of hiding her feelings for Waverly. Had she been coming on too strong? Had she been making Waverly uncomfortable? She thought that she had probably overstayed her welcome at Gus’s. She shouldn’t have forced her presence on Waverly.

Waverly seemed to have noticed Nicole’s internal panic. “Nicole -” she began.

“Waverly,” Nicole interrupted her, feeling very embarrassed about her actions. “I am  _ so  _ sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable in anyway. I’m sorry if I put any pressure on you.”

“Huh?” Waverly frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Nicole searched for the words to say without having to outright say the words, ‘predatory lesbian’. “I- I should have respected your space,” she started.

“Nicole, seriously,” Waverly cut her off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t understand,” Nicole said. “What are  _ you  _ talking about?”

“Why do you think that you make me uncomfortable?” Waverly asked.

Nicole shrugged. “I was starting to think that I’ve been spending too much time with you and that I need to back off. You’ve got your own life,” she said. “Also, sometimes you act quite jumpy around me.”

Waverly managed to chuckle. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “It’s just,” she sighed, “you make me nervous, that’s all.”

“Nervous?”

“In a good way,” Waverly said.

That wasn’t what Nicole expected to hear. She didn’t even know what it actually meant. “Nervous in a good way? Waverly, if I’m nervous about something, it’s not usually about a good thing,” she said.

Waverly shifted in her seat. “Don’t you know what I’m trying to say?”

“I’d really rather not guess,” Nicole responded. She didn’t want to get the wrong idea.

“Okay.” For a moment, Waverly looked taken aback. Immediately afterwards, her face displayed a mixture of emotions. Confusion. Conflict. Trepidation. And then Nicole couldn’t see what came next, because Waverly had surged forward so that her lips all but crashed into Nicole’s.

Whatever Nicole was about to say, or about to think, she quickly forgot about it. She could feel Waverly’s hand gently cupping her cheek. Turning her body towards Waverly, her hand found Waverly’s waist. She pulled her closer, and felt Waverly’s sharp intake of breath as the space between them disappeared. Nicole felt as if her brain was short-circuiting. Waverly was kissing her! She was kissing Waverly! They were in a library!

Waverly’s hand moved from Nicole’s cheek to her shoulder. She pushed her away gently, breaking the kiss. “We’re in a library,” she said breathlessly.

“I know,” Nicole said. Her hand was still on Waverly’s waist, and she decided to leave it there. She smiled at Waverly. “So, I made you nervous, huh?”

“Present tense,” Waverly said. “You still make me nervous.”

Nicole moved in to kiss her, this time, briefly and chastely. Her heart fluttered when she saw the silly smile on Waverly’s face as she pulled back. “I wasn’t actually running errands,” she admitted. “I just wanted to find you.”

Waverly chuckled. “I’m glad you found me.”

* * *

Waverly arrived at the homestead first. After their kiss in the library, she foisted Nicole onto Chrissy, who was just ending her shift. She told Chrissy that Nicole wanted to be a park ranger and would love if she had the chance to meet Ranger Nedley. Chrissy was confused but went along with it, since Waverly had asked weirder things from her in the past. And Nicole didn’t protest; she probably was too dazed to say anything. Waverly had watched as Chrissy instructed Nicole to follow her in her car, and then when they left, she got in her Jeep and drove home. She figured she’d have at least twenty minutes to herself.

As much as she enjoyed kissing Nicole, and as much as she wanted to do it again, she needed time to think. She didn’t know what kind of impulse came over her in the library. She couldn’t trace what triggered it. Was it having the chance to monopolise Nicole’s attention? Was it Nicole bringing up her incomparably adorable meet-cute with her ex-girlfriend? Was it the fact that Wynonna and the team were coming back tomorrow, effectively invading the little bubble Waverly and Nicole had inadvertently created for themselves?

These thoughts ran through her mind as she paced around the living room, all the while both anticipating and dreading Nicole’s arrival.

Was this how it felt to actually get what you want?

“Laundry. I need to put away the laundry,” Waverly muttered under her breath. She went inside their small laundry room, grabbed the empty basket on top of the washing machine, and then slipped out the side door to the clothesline. She tugged each item of clothing off the line and placed it in the basket, feeling a bit more relaxed the more she did it. Waverly was cursed with an overactive brain, and menial tasks helped clear the noise in her head.

When all her clothes were in the basket, Waverly reentered the house, aiming to fold the laundry in the living room. 

Except Nicole was already standing there. Her gaze was fixed on Waverly, intense even from under the brim of her cap. 

Waverly stopped in her tracks. She suddenly remembered how attractive Nicole looked today, not that she ever really forgot. Nicole was wearing those olive green shorts she had on the day she arrived in Purgatory, with a tight black tank top and her red Converse. It only exhibited how lean and toned she was.

Without meaning to, Waverly licked her lips.

“Hey there,” Nicole said quietly.

“How was Ranger Nedley?” Waverly asked.

Nicole shrugged. “He’s a man of a few words, but he seemed sweet enough to his daughter,” she said. “He was busy so he told me to come see him some other time.”

“That sounds good.” Waverly couldn’t help but thinking how ridiculous they were being, having a conversation while standing on opposite sides of the room. They’d never spoken to each other while being this far apart, not even when they first met. In fact, most of the time they talked to each other, they were sitting on the living room couch, their knees inches apart. Sometimes they even occasionally touched. Talking this way was a Victorian regression that Waverly would’ve found funny if it hadn’t involved herself.

“Chrissy’s nice,” Nicole said. “She’s a bit confused why you kinda threw me at her, though.”

“I’m sorry,” was all Waverly could say.

“Why did you do that?”

Waverly couldn’t think of an acceptable response. So she settled for something that had worked earlier. Unceremoniously, she dropped the basket of clothes on the floor, and practically flew across the living room to be closer to Nicole, knocking the Bluejays cap off Nicole’s head, and onto the floor because it was getting in the way of their mouths crashing together. She wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck.

Nicole sighed, her lips parting as Waverly’s tongue licked across them. Her hands gripped Waverly’s waist, and she seemed resolved at having them stay there.

Waverly’s right hand threaded its way into the hair on the back of Nicole’s head, allowing her to deepen the kiss. Nicole’s tongue slid against hers and this made Waverly whimper. But it still frustrated her how Nicole’s hands remained stationary on her waist, warm even through her t-shirt. So she pushed herself closer, right up against Nicole, but the momentum sent Nicole falling backwards onto the couch, with Waverly on top of her.

“Shit, are you okay?” Waverly asked breathlessly.

To her surprise, Nicole started laughing. She leaned her head back against the cushion she landed on, exposing the smooth length of her neck. Her hands were still on Waverly’s waist. “I’m fine,” she said. “You’re a bit enthusiastic, aren’t you?”

Waverly smiled sheepishly. “Just a little bit.” She looked down at Nicole, slightly breathless, with her lips swollen and her red hair sticking up in places. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Of course not,” Nicole said.

“Good,” Waverly said. She leaned in to kiss her again, but one of Nicole’s hands had moved up from her waist to her shoulder, pushing her back. “What’s up?”

“I just wanna confirm something,” Nicole said. She bit her lip, before continuing, “You like me, right? It’s not just me?”

Waverly frowned down at her. “What do you think I’m doing here? Having fun?” she asked.

Nicole’s shoulders inched upwards at an attempt at a shrug. “Waves, I expect better from you, but I’m just saying that it wouldn’t be the first time someone decided to kiss me for fun,” she said.

“Nicole.” Waverly didn’t know if she should be offended, but showing offence might just make a mess of things. And they were already complicated enough as it was. “I already told you… You make me nervous. You make me feel things… I like you more than I’ve liked anyone in a long time. Maybe in like, forever. And honestly, I’m finding it hard to deal with.”

“Maybe we should stop?” Nicole suggested, in a way that told Waverly that she didn’t really mean it.

Waverly chuckled. “That’s a horrible idea,” she said. “You’re a very good kisser.”

“I must be, since you’re still here.” Nicole’s hand patted the small of Waverly’s back.

“Well, to work through my issues, I must get on top of them,” Waverly said. She nearly didn’t finish the sentence as she was trying too hard not to giggle.

Nicole laughed. “That was a bad joke,” she said.

“I’ve got so much more,” Waverly said.

“You could just kiss me instead.” There was a hint of mischief in Nicole’s eyes.

Who was Waverly to say no to that?

* * *

Nicole had spent seemingly countless minutes making out with Waverly Earp, and it was like her day couldn’t get any better. They first kissed in the library, and then when they were both back at the homestead, they were on the couch. And they stayed on the couch for a while. Bedrooms were too much pressure. Besides, this was probably the last time they’d be alone together on the homestead for the rest of the summer. Nicole wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. It seemed like Waverly did, too.

They managed to extricate themselves from each other long enough to prepare dinner. Well, it was Waverly doing the cooking while Nicole watched. She could feed herself decently but since Waverly was a vegetarian and Nicole wasn’t, Nicole decided it was better to let her be in charge of the food.

Instead, she set the table. She reflected about how their situation was unusual. They had been doing this for several weeks already. Waverly preparing food, Nicole setting the table, the two of them sitting down and enjoying a meal together… Most of the time, they were with the rest of the storm chasers. For the past few days, it had just been the two of them. But this time was different. Things were different between them.

And nothing in the world has felt more right.

They cleaned up in comfortable silence. Sated by their dinner, they ended up back on the living room couch, but instead of kissing, they cuddled up close to each other. Nicole slouched against the back of the couch, with Waverly curled into her side. They turned on the TV and mindlessly watched a documentary about a regional ice hockey team that was airing on a local channel.

The weather forecast came on during an ad break, advising a thunderstorm that was going to land in Purgatory within the next couple of days.

“So how come you never got into chasing?” Nicole asked Waverly. “I feel like I’ve asked everyone that question, except for you.”

Waverly’s eyes widened. “You asked them why I didn’t chase? What did they say?”

“Just that you were never interested in it, and that Wynonna didn’t want you to,” Nicole said.

“Hey, I know my fair share of meteorology… I got into reading about it after Wynonna’s first summer chasing for Public Safety, with Dolls,” Waverly said. “They had made the homestead their base so I was just hearing storm jargon all the time. I got sick of not being in the conversation so I decided to learn more about it.”

“But still, you don’t chase,” Nicole said.

“I don’t chase,” Waverly agreed. “Part of it is because I know Wynonna would never let me, and as much fun as it is to defy my big sister, I’m not enticed by chasing enough to ever subject Wynonna to that kind of worry and frustration. Besides,” she shrugged, “I live in a crowded dorm at university. I don’t want to spend my summer replicating that environment. I mean, it’s already bad enough that the homestead is pretty much a dorm when you guys aren’t chasing storms.”

“Fair enough.”

Waverly nudged her. “Get that frown off your face,” she said. “You guys are way better than anyone who’s ever lived on my dorm. Marginally neater, way better hygiene habits, and most of the summer you’re actually out and about.”

“You like that last one?” Nicole asked.

“Not for you,” Waverly admitted. Colour was rising to her cheeks. “I miss you every time you leave.”

“Yeah?”

Waverly couldn’t look Nicole in the eye now. Her hand had moved from its place on Nicole’s stomach down to her thigh, repeatedly tracing short lines on the skin just below the hem of her shorts. “It surprised me, how much I ended up liking you,” she said. “I mean, don’t take that the wrong way… It just- I’m not usually like this, that’s all.”

Nicole nodded understandingly. “You’ve never had a crush on a girl before,” she said.

Waverly looked up at that comment. “No,” she said. “I’m saying, I’ve never liked anyone this way before.  _ Anyone _ . Not the way I like you.”

“Oh.” Nicole leaned in to kiss Waverly, who sighed as she leaned further into her. Soon enough, they were horizontal on the couch again, Nicole’s fingers threaded into Waverly’s hair. There was a growing comfort in their kisses; though the excitement was still there, the frenzy of their previous kisses had been tamed. It still felt new, but it also felt like they had been doing this for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I apologise for the delayed upload! Work and general life things have been kicking my butt lately, so I've had to shove fanfic writing down the bottom of the list repeatedly. But I promise that I'm not forgetting about it at all! I hope that you liked this chapter. I appreciate your comments.


	5. Chapter 5

The following morning, Waverly woke up feeling and smelling Nicole all over, even if she wasn’t there. 

The previous day had been  _ amazing _ . Kissing Nicole and being close to Nicole was exhilarating, but it also felt like a natural progression in their relationship, as if it was meant to happen all this time. At the same time, Waverly believed that it wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t made the first move; no, Nicole was far too timid and far too respectful of people’s boundaries to act on her feelings. Waverly may have come off as too eager, but she  _ had  _ to be. She had risked so much that it wasn’t worth not being her honest self.

It was Nicole who stopped Waverly from inviting her into her bedroom last night. It was “too soon”, she had said, and she “wanted to do this properly”.  _ This  _ being… Waverly wasn’t quite sure. They hadn’t spent enough time not kissing to define their relationship. It wasn’t an issue that felt urgent, and though Waverly was well aware that Nicole was leaving Purgatory at the end of the summer, she understood that it would be better if they just allowed themselves to enjoy things as they were.

And so they did. They woke up alone but reunited for breakfast. Waverly fixed them tea while Nicole gave her best shot at crêpes, which were served with Nutella and slice fruits. Waverly didn’t have crêpes often—she was born and raised in the prairies, after all—so Nicole’s were the best she’s ever had.

“One of the rangers at Algonquin taught me how to make them,” Nicole said. “They’re breakfast, but just a little bit fancy.”

“I am feeling  _ very  _ fancy right now,” Waverly said.

“I’m glad,” Nicole said, almost bashfully.

They cleaned up after breakfast and proceeded to do their own thing. Nicole did her laundry while Waverly went out to buy groceries, since the storm chasers were returning in a few hours. When she returned, Nicole was sitting on the couch watching TV. She got up immediately upon seeing Waverly.

“No need,” Waverly assured her. She hadn’t bought that many things. She waited until Nicole had returned to the couch before heading to the kitchen. She put her shopping away, went upstairs to fetch the book she was reading from her bedroom, and then sat on the other end of the couch.

Nicole gave a murmur of acknowledgement.

Waverly swivelled around so that she was facing Nicole, and then stretched her legs so that her feet and ankles would be resting on Nicole’s lap. When Nicole looked at her inquiringly, she asked, “Is this okay?”

Nicole placed a warm hand on one of Waverly’s shins. “Of course,” she said.

They sat like that for a while.

After a couple of episodes of the sitcom that was playing on TV, Nicole reached for the remote to keep the next episode from playing automatically. To do this, she removed her hand from its perch on Waverly’s shin, and she leaned forward to pick up the remote from the coffee table.

Though Waverly immediately missed the feeling of Nicole’s palm—which somehow managed to be rough, but not too rough—on her leg, she was surprised at how much she felt overwhelmed by what had replaced it. As Nicole leaned forward, Waverly could feel her lean abdominal muscles and the soft curve of her breasts. Remote in hand, Nicole relaxed backwards in her original position, and Waverly swore that the lower portion of both her legs erupted in goosebumps.

Nicole’s hand had returned to her leg, while her other hand was pressing buttons on the remote. If she had noticed any of Waverly’s involuntary reactions, she didn’t say anything about them. She turned the TV off and looked at Waverly, her eyes glinting with humour. “Did Wynonna ever think of getting you an e-reader?” she asked.

Waverly held her book against her chest. It was a defence mechanism she had developed from her childhood being teased about her bookworm tendencies. “I’m not sure Wynonna knows what an e-reader is,” she said.

“You’d be surprised how much she notices about you, and how much she takes stock in your interests,” Nicole said. “I mean, you’re her pride and joy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you’re all she talks about when we’re on the road,” Nicole said.

“Now I’m wondering if you’ll get sick of hearing about me,” Waverly said.

Nicole chuckled. “If anything, what she tells us about you only made me want to get to know you more,” she said.

Waverly could feel herself blushing. Although she was known as the family genius, as well as being well-regarded around Purgatory, it was rare that she was the centre of attention, especially when her sister was involved. Perhaps that was why she was so drawn to Nicole. Nicole had no direct knowledge of Waverly’s childhood spent in Wynonna’s shadow. The Waverly she first saw, the Waverly that she eventually came to know, was the beginning of the person that Waverly always wanted to be.

“What are you thinking?” Nicole asked, looking a bit nervous.

“I just really like you, that’s all,” Waverly said.

Nicole gave her a lopsided smile. “I really like you too, Waves.”

“Good.” Waverly removed her legs from Nicole’s lap, tucking them underneath her as she shifted positions, somewhat crawling towards Nicole on the couch. Balancing herself on one arm, she cupped Nicole’s face with one hand. “Can we kiss now?”

“Sure,” Nicole replied. She leaned forward to meet Waverly halfway. As they kissed, Nicole moved underneath her, adjusting their bodies so that Waverly was on top of her. Her hands roamed over Waverly’s back, and up and down Waverly’s sides. One of her hands found its way to the back of Waverly’s neck, stroking the skin under her braid.

Waverly’s hands had found their way under Nicole’s t-shirt. Being on top, she couldn’t do much but feel the skin of Nicole’s stomach against her palms. Her fingers inched higher and higher. Waverly enjoyed how Nicole’s breathing got shorter and shorter in response.

A crack of thunder jolted them apart from each other.

“Oh, shit,” Nicole gasped.

Waverly was catching her breath, too. “I guess that’s the storm,” she said. She nuzzled her face into Nicole’s neck, breathing in her smell. Her hands were still under Nicole’s top, resting against her ribs. “We can stay like this for awhile,” she said. “But we need to get the house ready. Wynonna and the others will be here soon.”

“You’re right,” Nicole said. She pressed her lips gently to Waverly’s hair. “This is nice.”

“Should we tell Wynonna? About us?” Waverly asked. Her mind kept going through Wynonna’s possible reactions. She was quite predictable, actually. She could either laugh about it and keep making lewd jokes about Waverly and Nicole, or her overprotective instincts could kick in and she might just frighten Nicole out of the homestead. Waverly wasn’t a fan of either of these options.

Nicole was smiling, seemingly unaware of the scenarios playing out in Waverly’s brain. “We’re an  _ us _ ?”

“Uh.” Waverly froze. At this point, she stopped trying to keep count of how many times she has turned beet red around Nicole. “If you want us to be, that is.”

“Waverly, there is nothing more I want.” Nicole kissed her on the forehead. “But to answer your question… I’m okay with telling Wynonna, but you know, I’m thinking about you and whether  _ you’re  _ ready to tell her. Whenever that will be for you, that’ll a good time for me, too.”

Waverly thought about it, and she knew she wasn’t ready to tell her sister just yet. It was still too new. She was still processing it herself.

They removed themselves from the couch to tidy up the house, aware of their friends’ imminent arrival, while the storm began to stir up outside. No one but Dolls was really a stickler for cleanliness, but it was the thought that counted. Coming home to a tidy house just promoted relaxing feelings.

“Hey, have you gotten a text from Jeremy or anyone else?” Waverly asked Nicole, as she put the vacuum cleaner back in the closet. They hadn’t heard from any of the team in a few hours.

Nicole shrugged. “Nah, not since he texted that they had checked out of the motel.”

“I wonder where they are. They should’ve at least told us when they’ve crossed the border,” Waverly said. She shut the closet door and picked up her phone from where she picked it up from the coffee table. Still nothing. She scrolled through her contacts, wondering who was most likely to pick up their phone.

As if on cue, Dolls’s photo flashed on her phone screen. She swiped to answer the call immediately, putting Dolls on speaker, so Nicole could hear, too. “Hey, Dolls!” Waverly said. “How’s it going? We’ve been wondering when we should start making dinner.”

“Waverly.” Dolls’s tone was exceptionally flat and sober. “How bad’s the storm there? Can you get out of Purgatory?”

Nicole, eyes wide, sat up from where she was slouching on the couch.

“Dolls. What happened?” Waverly asked.

“Wynonna and Doc got into an accident,” Dolls said. “We’re at a hospital right now. I think it’s about an hour north of the border.” He gave the hospital’s name and address, and out of the corner of her eye, Waverly watched Nicole tap it into her phone.

Waverly’s heart sank. “Are they okay?” Her voice was shaking. She was surprised that the rest of her body seemed to be holding upright.

“Doc has a concussion and a couple of broken ribs, but otherwise he’s fine. The doctor gave him a sedative so he’s sleeping it off. But Wynonna,” Doc cleared his throat, “Wynonna was unconscious when the paramedics came. She’s next in line for a CT scan. She hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Oh my god.” Waverly pinched the bridge of her nose. This couldn’t be happening. “We’ll be there. I just need to get a few things together.. Me and Nicole.”

“Drive safe, Waverly,” Dolls said. “We’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, Xavier,” Waverly said. “Take care.” As soon as she hung up, she noticed that Nicole was already standing in front of her.

“Waves,” Nicole said softly, before taking Waverly into her arms.

Waverly rested her head against Nicole’s chest. She inhaled deeply, but her exhale came out as a strangled sob. It wasn’t difficult for the tears to fall after that.

* * *

They stood there for ten minutes, with Nicole clutching Waverly to her chest as Waverly cried. Eventually, Waverly stepped backwards, wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands, and cleared her throat. She looked up at Nicole. “I’m just gonna pack a bag, and get a few things for Wynonna,” she said. “Could you go into the barn and grab some stuff for Doc as well? A couple pairs of pyjamas, a change of clothes, some underwear.”

“Sure,” Nicole said.

“We’ll leave in half an hour,” Waverly said. 

“There’s a storm,” Nicole said.

“I know how to drive through a damn storm,” Waverly said. “I want to be there when my sister wakes up.” With that, she turned on her heel and went to Wynonna’s bedroom.

Knowing that they were going to leave in half an hour, storm or not, Nicole went upstairs and tossed some clothes and toiletries into her backpack, along with chargers for her electronics. She slung this over her shoulder and left it on the living room floor downstairs. She ran through the rain to the barn and packed Doc’s stuff in the only empty bag she could find, which was a gym bag on the floor by Jeremy’s wardrobe. She was sure that he wouldn’t mind.

Thirty minutes later, they were driving out of the homestead in Waverly’s red Jeep, in heavy rain and howling winds. It wasn’t the worst that Nicole had seen from this summer alone, and Waverly did seem to know how to navigate a storm, so Nicole didn’t worry as much as she normally would have.

Nicole had taken it upon herself to be the navigator. She had plugged her phone into the charger. They were going on a four-hour drive. “Baby, it’s a long trip. I think we’re going to need to get something to eat,” she said. They hadn’t had dinner before leaving the homestead.

Waverly didn’t respond. Her eyes were fixed on the road, and she continued driving until they had left Purgatory. She drove down the highway. There was no rain where they were, but cloud blocked the full strength of the sunlight, but there was still enough to showcase the bare prairielands. When they finally reached the next town, she wordlessly parked in front of the nearest store. She killed the engine and simply looked at Nicole.

Nicole took her wallet out of her backpack. She adjusted her cap on her head and hopped off from the Jeep. She entered the store, grabbed a basket, and roamed the aisles picking food items that would come in handy: beef jerky, trail mix, chocolate-covered raisins, a six pack of soda cans and two large bottles of water. She found some packed ham and cheese sandwiches near the counter and took those, too. She paid for the items and then went outside.

Through the windshield of the Jeep, it was clear that Waverly was crying.

Nicole made sure to walk as slowly as she could, to give Waverly a chance to compose herself. She use the Jeep’s back door to place the food in the back, and then she got back into the passenger seat. She pretended not to notice Waverly’s red-rimmed eyes and restrained sniffling.

They sat there silently for a moment, neither of them making a move.

Nicole took her cap off and raked her fingers through her hair. “Waverly, do you want me to drive?” she asked.

The question made Waverly sit upright. Her hand was on the key in the ignition. “No,” she finally said, her voice broken from a combination of her self-imposed silence and her recent crying session. “I want to drive for now. We can switch later.”

“You should have something to eat, baby,” Nicole said. She began to reach in the back for the ham and cheese sandwiches. And then she remembered that Waverly was vegetarian, and she wouldn’t be able to eat anything that Nicole had bought, except for the trail mix and the raisins. Mentally cursing herself, she withdrew her hand.

“I’m fine,” Waverly said. “You can eat. So you’ll have energy when we switch over.”

“Okay,” Nicole said. She watched as Waverly started the car. Her arm muscles and neck muscles and jaw showed off a dangerously tense profile. Nicole wanted so badly to reach out to her, to comfort her, but Waverly didn’t seem to do well with vulnerability. She decided it would be best to let Waverly do whatever she needed to do first. Nicole could figure out how to comfort her later.

And then they were back on the road.

They stopped again, halfway to their destination, so that they could stretch their legs, take a bathroom break, and switch drivers. Nicole got into the driver’s seat while Waverly slouched next to her, picking out the pretzel pieces out of the trail mix. It didn’t take long before Waverly fell asleep, her head slumped against the window, the bag of trail mix still on her lap.

It was already past ten o’clock when they arrived at the hospital. They made a beeline for reception. Wynonna Earp and John Henry Holliday had been placed in the same ward, which was on the top floor. Nicole and Waverly walked to the elevator side by side. They got into the elevator and Nicole pressed the button for the second floor. As the doors shut, she reached for Waverly’s hand and she laced their fingers together.

Waverly was pale and her expression was halfway between fury and grief. She looked down at their joined hands. “I haven’t checked my phone at all since we left,” she told Nicole.

Nicole had been checking her phone, since she was using it for GPS. She had gotten a couple of messages each from Rosita and Jeremy, but none of these gave away much detail. “It’s okay, I’m sure they’ll tell us everything,” she said to Waverly.

They got out of the elevator and, hand in hand, walked down the corridor to the ward. There weren’t many people there, as the place was a small rural hospital. Nicole was able to spot their friends immediately.

“Jeremy,” Waverly said. She released Nicole’s hand as they approached.

Jeremy, Rosita and Dolls looked up from their place around Doc’s bed. Out of all of them, only Jeremy managed a smile, and then proceeded to wrap his arms tight around Waverly. Rosita approached Nicole first and gave her a brief hug. She moved aside to greet Waverly, leaving Nicole and Dolls to talk to each other.

“Nic,” Dolls said.

Nicole hugged him and could feel how exhausted he was. “How are you holding up?” she asked when they separated.

Dolls shrugged. “Not my best day,” he said.

Nicole could imagine how Dolls felt. She witnessed to how hard he worked to keep them together. He was the leader of these missions. It was his responsibility to make sure all his team were safe. He took it upon himself to make sure they returned from each trip in one piece. He always had to be the coolest head in the room. If a crisis occurred, that already meant that he hadn’t done his job as well as he should have. The accident wasn’t his fault, but Nicole could see in his eyes that he was taking at least some of the blame for it.

“Anyone gonna greet the  _ invalid  _ over here?” Doc croaked, and everyone turned around to face him. Hatless and in a hospital gown, with his usually bright eyes dimmed by the sedatives he was given, he looked smaller, and nothing like the Doc Holliday that Nicole had gotten to know.

“You’re awake,” Dolls said.

Doc reached up to rub his eyes. “Yep,” he said. He looked at Nicole and Waverly. “And I see the rest of us have arrived.” He addressed Dolls again. “How’s Wynonna doing?”

“They’re still running tests on her,” Dolls said. He turned to Waverly. “We were going to get airlifted to Calgary but they couldn’t get a chopper free. There’s been a bit of a queue here with the machines. Her CT scan came back fine, though.”

Waverly didn’t look the least bit relieved. “What other tests are they doing?”

“X-rays, MRI,” Rosita said.

“Wynonna hasn’t woken up yet?” Doc asked.

“No, she hasn’t,” Rosita said.

“The doctor thinks her body’s just shut down and taking the time to recover,” Jeremy said. “She said this is pretty common. There shouldn’t be any lasting damage, but she’s just getting the tests to confirm her theory.”

Waverly exhaled loudly. “I need to go get some air,” she said.

“Waverly,” Nicole said.

“Text me when they bring Wynonna back to the ward, okay?” Waverly stuffed her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and walked out of the ward, before anyone could say or do anything.

“She’s gonna be all right,” Doc said sagely. “She just needs to see her sister, that’s all. Then she’ll be better. You’ll see.”

Nicole sure hoped so.

* * *

“What the fuck?”

Waverly raised her head from the side of Wynonna’s bed and watched her sister examine her new setting with bleary eyes. Waverly reached for Wynonna’s hand and squeezed it. “Wynonna,” she said, relieved, more than anything.

Wynonna stared at the IV attached to her arm. “You still haven’t answered my question,” she said. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember? You and Doc Holliday were in an accident, on the way back to Purgatory,” Waverly said.

“Oh yeah,  _ now _ I remember. Doc was always a shit driver, though. I don’t know what I was thinking, getting in a car with him,” The usual wryness of Wynonna’s voice was gradually creeping back. “How’s he doing anyway?”

Waverly told her, and she also mentioned that the team and Nicole have checked into a nearby motel. She looked at the time on her watch. It was nearly five in the morning. She couldn’t believe that the hospital staff had let her stay this long, but then again, the ward wasn’t busy at all, so the staff were probably feeling a little more lenient about visiting hours.

“And the Cadillac?” Wynonna asked.

“Rosita said it’s looking like a write-off.”

Wynonna exhaled loudly. “Well, that’s a bummer,” she said. She coughed. “Waves, mind getting me some water?”

Waverly stepped out onto the ward to find the water dispenser. She filled a cup of water and brought it back to Wynonna. “The doctor spoke to me and told me what happened to you but I didn’t catch much of it, to be honest,” she told her. “You’re going to have to wait until morning for an explanation, sorry.”

“You didn’t catch it? Hmm. That’s unlike you.”

Waverly pouted. “I was worried about you, you dummy,” she said.

“Of course you were,” Wynonna said. Her eyes widened. “I’m not dying, though, am I?”

“No. That much I know,” Waverly said. “I told the doctor that you were too stubborn to die this way. She agreed with me.” She rubbed at her forehead. “Wynonna, can I ask you a question?”

“I hope it’s not about my will.” Wynonna chuckled.

“Wynonna.”

Wynonna’s expression softened, and she nodded. “Go ahead, baby girl.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of you getting in a car with Doc. What’s up with that?” Waverly asked. She knew they had a routine down after several summers of chasing. Wynonna and Dolls went in his SUV because Wynonna’s photography gear fit better in there. Back in the three-vehicle setup, Doc would drive with Rosita while Jeremy drove on his own, because he looked after the storm chasing technology. When they were actually chasing, Jeremy would leave his car behind and go in Dolls’s SUV instead. This had changed with Nicole around, but Waverly was aware that Wynonna and Dolls always insisted on being in the same car.

“Well, Dolls and I had a fight,” Wynonna said. “And it’s come to bite me in the ass.”

“Oh my god.” This explained Dolls’s uncharacteristically ashen expression and his general odd behaviour while they were still at the hospital. “Wynonna! He’s blaming himself! I think he thinks it’s all his fault.”

“Typical Dolls,” Wynonna said. “Of course the first time I didn’t feel like being in a car with him, I get into a car crash and he makes it all about him.”

“He didn’t, actually. I’m just saying, he didn’t look good, and you know how he is,” Waverly said.

“That guy is more self-absorbed than he makes out to be. Anyway, we didn’t crash because of him, we crashed because the province of Alberta should never have given Doc a driver’s licence,” Wynonna said.

“I think Doc got his licence back in the States, actually… but that’s not the point you’re making,” Waverly said.

“No, it’s not.”

“What did you two fight about anyway?” Waverly asked. Her sister and Dolls had almost nothing in common, and their start as teammates was admittedly rocky, but Waverly couldn’t imagine them having a disagreement so bad that they had to take time away from each other.

Wynonna pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m tired, Waves. I don’t really wanna talk about it,” she said. And then she laughed, shortly and bitterly. “We Earps know how to pick ‘em, eh?”

“What do you mean?”

Wynonna waved her off. “I’m gonna go back to sleep. You should go to the motel, get in a proper bed,” she said. “I’ll see you when the sun’s out, yeah?”

Waverly knew there was no point arguing with her sister over this. “Okay,” she said. She stood up and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Want me to bring you anything when I come in later?”

“Greasiest burger and fries you can find in this town,” Wynonna said. “If not, find a Timmy’s.”

“Gotcha.”

“Atta girl.”

* * *

When Waverly had sent them off the night before, they checked into a motel. It made sense to get two rooms that had two double beds each, one room for Jeremy and Dolls and one room for Nicole and Rosita. They were all exhausted and fell asleep soon after changing out of their clothes.

Nicole woke up early in the morning as Waverly called her to ask if she could be let into their room. Careful not to wake Rosita, Nicole opened the door for Waverly, and let Waverly clean up while she returned to bed. Admittedly, she was half-asleep during their entire interaction, so she thought nothing of it when Waverly got under the covers with her and curled into her side without saying a word. They were both asleep before they could even talk.

Nicole woke up again later that morning, partly because the daylight meant the room was warming up, and partly because Rosita was standing at the foot of the bed, staring at the way Waverly and Nicole had been hugging in their sleep, with Waverly’s head nestled under Nicole’s chin, her forehead resting against Nicole’s neck.

“What the heck, Haught,” Rosita said quietly. More of a statement, less of a question.

Nicole glared at her and watched as she just shook her head and made her way to the bathroom. As soon as she heard the bathroom door shut, Nicole kissed Waverly on the forehead. “Waves,” she whispered, while shaking her gently. “Good morning.”

Waverly opened her eyes. It took her a few seconds to orient herself. “Oh, crap,” she said, turning away quickly. “I have morning breath.” She sat up and saw Rosita’s empty, unmade bed. “And did Rosita  _ see  _ us?”

“Baby.” Nicole sat up as well. “She did see us. Is that a problem?”

“I don’t know,” Waverly said. She was still looking at Rosita’s bed. “I don’t know quite know how to tell Wynonna yet, and I don’t want Rosita to tell her before I get the chance to.”

Nicole placed her hand on Waverly’s shoulder. “Waverly, will you look at me?” she asked. When Waverly shifted so that they were looking at each other, she continued, “I’m sure Rosita’s not like that.” She tried to lean in for a kiss but Waverly moved away.

“Morning breath,” Waverly said.

“I don’t care,” Nicole said, because she didn’t.

The bathroom door creaked open and Rosita emerged. She smirked at the sight of Nicole and Waverly in bed. “Good morning, ladies,” she said in a smug, cheerful voice. “I’m not gonna even bother asking for an explanation.”

“Thanks,” Nicole said.

“But Wynonna will,” Rosita said.

“Don’t remind me,” Nicole said.

“Let me tell her, okay?” Waverly said.

Rosita nodded. “Of course. It’s your thing to tell, Waverly, not mine,” she said. She flashed another crooked smile at them. “Can’t say I didn’t see this coming, though.” She walked over to her bag and dug for some clothes. “I’m gonna take a shower, then you guys get ready, and then we’ll see if the boys are up for breakfast, okay?”

They both agreed.

Less than an hour later, they piled into Dolls’s SUV to get breakfast. Waverly told everyone that Wynonna had woken up and seemed more or less okay. She noted that though Dolls didn’t ask many questions, the relief on his face was evident. After breakfast, they went straight to the hospital.

Doc was awake and enjoying the remnants of his hospital breakfast while reading the newspaper. He had never been picky with food. Waverly and Nicole had decided to see him first to give the others time with Wynonna, who was across the ward, expressing her distaste for the meal in front of her. Waverly had given Rosita the burger that Wynonna had requested, so the complaining should stop soon.

“How you feeling today, Doc?” Waverly asked.

Doc nodded. “Bit sore, but I think I’m going to have a good day today,” he said. “I hear Wynonna’s awake. I  _ literally  _ heard it, that is.”

Nicole snorted.

“Yes, she is,” Waverly said.

“And she’s still herself,, it looks like it,” Doc said. “That’s good to see.” He looked at Waverly and Nicole. He silently examined them. His eyes narrowed. And then a smile rustled his moustache. “So, does Wynonna know?” 

“Does Wynonna know what?” Nicole said.

“Ladies, don’t even try to pretend,” Doc said. “Only a blind person wouldn’t be able to tell. And my eyes are  _ perfectly  _ healthy.”

“But Jeremy and Dolls haven’t said anything,” Waverly said.

“Waves -” Nicole began, but it was futile, because Waverly had just put her foot in it.

“Ah, so there is  _ something _ !” Doc gesticulated with his fork. “So Rosita knows…” He didn’t bother waiting for a response. “Of course she does, and I’m sure she loved letting you know that, too. And the only reason why Jeremy and Dolls haven’t said anything is that they’re way too polite.”

“Doc, what do you think Wynonna will say?” Waverly said.

“She’ll threaten to beat Nicole up but Wynonna’s always been all bark and no bite,” Doc said.

Nicole scoffed. “That has not been my experience.” She had only been on the road with Wynonna for one summer and she knew that Wynonna could take on a group of burly drunks if she were so inclined. She would win, too.

“You’re right.” Doc managed a chuckle. “But I like to think that she would know better than to ruin her sister’s happiness.”

Nicole looked at Waverly, who seemed to look less panicked about the prospect of revealing their relationship to Wynonna. She didn’t tend to jump the gun, but she had a feeling that everything was going to be okay. Last night, they escaped a storm in Purgatory to get to their friends—no, their  _ family _ —in a provincial hospital in southern Alberta. Things were so bleak then. But now, they looked so much brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been so long, isn't it? Working on this fic has been a slow plod but we're getting there! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Leave me a comment!


	6. Chapter 6

The car accident brought the team’s storm season to a premature halt. After three more nights in hospital, Wynonna and Doc were officially cleared for travel back to Purgatory. Dolls laid out the transport arrangements and everyone complied with him. The Earp sisters and Nicole were going in Waverly’s Jeep, and the rest of them would be in Dolls’s SUV. They were going to take the main highway, and they were going to take it slow.

Nicole drove and gave the sisters time to catch up with each other. Watching them was admittedly fascinating. Waverly was cautious and methodical, Wynonna was brash and impulsive. But the love was clear there, and it was a moving sight.

Wynonna still had no idea about Waverly and Nicole. There were plenty of opportunities to tell her back at the hospital, but then Waverly would hesitate, and then they would get interrupted. The rest of the team had kept their promise and kept their mouths shut, while things between Waverly and Nicole cooled off a little bit because of the secrecy.

It wasn’t exactly like being back in the closet, so Nicole didn’t feel like she was _trapped_ , and if she was being honest, there was a part of her that dreaded Wynonna’s reaction. She had heard Wynonna’s many tirades about Waverly’s incompetent ex-boyfriend Champ. No one was good enough for Waverly, and though Nicole knew that Wynonna liked her, she wasn’t sure if an aspiring park ranger would be Wynonna’s ideal person for her sister.

Nicole didn't share her worries with Waverly, who was still fussing over Wynonna. Instead they settled back into life in the homestead, bustling with activity now that everyone was back. Nicole missed having the place to themselves. She and Waverly stole moments together late at night when the team had retired to their rooms.

“I miss you even if I always see you,” Waverly whispered against Nicole’s racing pulse, her hands under Nicole’s t-shirt.

Nicole pushed some of Waverly’s hair away from her face. “I feel the same way,” she said.

Waverly’s lips were on hers again. Her hands shimmied up Nicole’s sides so the fabric of her t-shirt would ride up, and then Waverly planted her hands on either side of Nicole so she could position herself on top of her. She smiled as Nicole hissed at the contact of Waverly’s clothed torso against her bare skin. “You gotta be quiet, baby,” she teased.

“It’s impossible.”

Waverly bent down and kissed her way down Nicole’s jawline. “Is that so?”

“This thing you’re wearing,” Nicole slipped a finger under the hem of Waverly’s hoodie, earning a gasp as she stroked the space between Waverly’s belly button and the waistband of her _tiny_ shorts, “is unfair, considering that I’m practically naked here.”

“I get cold,” Waverly said.

Nicole smirked. “I’ll keep you warm.”

“Really?” Waverly said.

“You know I will,” Nicole said.

Waverly sat up and tugged the hoodie off, revealing that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. She looked down at Nicole.

And just like that, Nicole’s smirk was gone.

The following morning, Nicole woke up to Waverly prodding her in the side. “What is it?” she croaked.

“Come on,” Waverly said. “Let’s make everyone breakfast.”

They got dressed and headed downstairs to prepare breakfast. Waverly wanted to make hash browns from scratch, while Nicole prepared the eggs and bacon. They moved together in the kitchen, accustomed in sharing a space, and being in each other’s space.

Nicole watched as Waverly checked on the hash browns in the oven. She made sure that the eggs weren’t burning before she put the spatula down on the counter. She wiped her hands on a tea towel, and then took a step towards Waverly. “Hey.” She placed her hands on Waverly’s hips and pulled her closer.

“Hey,” Waverly said.

“Is now a good time to tell you that last night was amazing?” Nicole asked.

Waverly grinned. “I was thinking the same thing,” she said. “ _You’re_ amazing, Nicole. I’m glad that you came into my life.”

Nicole’s heart soared at Waverly’s words. Anything she said in response to that would feel cheap. She closed the distance between them and she kissed Waverly, hoping that it would say everything that she couldn’t.

“Hey, I thought I smelled some eggs and hash- What the _fuck_ are you _doing_ with my _sister_ , Haught?”

Nicole and Waverly practically jumped away from each other at the sound of Wynonna’s voice.

Wynonna stood in the kitchen doorway, arms folded over her chest. Her expression was unreadable. She looked from Waverly, to Nicole, to Waverly again. “You got something to tell me, Waverly?”

* * *

That was not the way Waverly wanted Wynonna to find out about her and Nicole.

Fortunately, Wynonna held off on any further questions until after breakfast. That didn’t stop her from throwing daggers at Nicole when she thought nobody was looking, though. She waited until everyone was cleaning up in the kitchen before she took Waverly’s hand and led her upstairs to her bedroom.

Wynonna sat down on Waverly’s bed. “Please don’t tell me you had sex in here.”

Waverly blushed. She had actually spent the night in Nicole’s room, but Wynonna didn’t need to know that.

Wynonna shrugged. “Whatever. That’s probably nothing compared to anything I’ve ever done, so I’m not one to judge, I guess.” She leaned back against Waverly’s pillows. “So you and Haught. When did it start?”

“Honestly,” Waverly sighed, “I can’t tell you when it did.”

“Before or after my accident?” Wynonna asked.

“Before. By a couple of days.”

“Do the others know?” Wynonna asked.

Waverly nodded. “They figured it out when we drove down to see you at the hospital,” she said. “We made them swear not to tell anything. I wanted it to come from me.”

“We’ve been back home for nearly a week now,” Wynonna said. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I didn’t know how to say it,” Waverly said. “I tried so many times before we even got back here, but I guess I didn’t try hard enough. Maybe I didn’t want things to change between us.”

“So are you like, gay now or what?”

Waverly laughed. “Wynonna!”

“I’m genuinely curious,” Wynonna said.

Waverly walked over to the bed and sat beside her sister. “I’m bi, I guess? I’m still figuring it out, what fits best,” she said. “But what I know is that I like Nicole, and I want to be with her.”

“Like, you wanna be her girlfriend or something?”

“Uh, yeah,” Waverly said. She realised that she hadn’t confirmed that with Nicole yet. They were _together_ , but were they _girlfriends_? She wasn’t sure how this worked, and she didn’t want to make any assumptions.

Wynonna looked up at the ceiling, and started nodding. “To be honest, I get Haught’s appeal,” she said. “Remember the first time we met her? She was wearing those, like, green shorts, and that shirt with the sleeves rolled up. On a dude it would look a bit douchey, or a bit of like, a middle-aged dad look, but on her…”

How could Waverly forget? Actually, she was more surprised that Wynonna remembered. “I _know_ ,” she agreed.

“And that stupid Bluejays cap she always wears,” Wynonna said.

“She was wearing that the second time we kissed,” Waverly said.

Wynonna smirked. “Not for long, I suppose,” she said.

“Well, I knocked it off her head. That’s all that happened, I swear,” Waverly said. She giggled. “It’s a little strange, don’t you think? Talking about this.”

“Waves, things will only change between us if you want them to change,” Wynonna said. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Waverly’s, an unusually tender gesture for her. “And if it really matters to you, I approve of Nicole. You finally picked a smart one.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Waverly said.

“Come here.” Wynonna opened her arms, inviting Waverly to snuggle up next to her. When Waverly rested her head on her shoulder, Wynonna kissed her hair. “I love you, baby girl. Nothing you can do to change that.”

“I love you, too,” Waverly said.

* * *

Nicole spent the rest of the morning anxious about what Wynonna would finally say to her, once her conversation with Waverly was finished. She busied herself by washing her car. She hadn’t used it much for the past few weeks, but it was still dirty from the drive from Ontario. It was an overcast day, perfect for washing and waxing.

She was finishing off the wax on the roof of her car when Wynonna emerged from the house. Nicole watched as Wynonna bounded down the porch steps and head towards her, hands stuffed in the pockets of her denim cutoffs.

“Haught, you got a sec?”

Nicole buffed the last of the wax off. “Sure,” she said.

Wynonna walked up to Nicole so that there wasn’t much space between them. While Waverly’s eyes were a gentle green, Wynonna’s were a hard blue. They have probably scared off more suitors than Nicole cared to think about.

Wynonna cleared her throat. “I’m not gonna give you the shovel talk, all right?” She raked her fingers through her hair. “I know that it doesn’t have to be like that with you. I trust Waverly. I trust you. I trust you with her. And I think you two are a good fit. You’re good for her.”

“Uh, thanks, Wynonna,” Nicole said. She liked to think that Waverly was good for her, too.

“You make her happy. That’s all I want,” Wynonna added.

“She makes me happy, too,” Nicole said.

“That’s Waverly for you. She’s always been the good one.”

Nicole chuckled. That certainly was Waverly. The town sweetheart. “You’re not so bad yourself, Earp,” she said.

Wynonna snorted. “Everyone knows that I’m the one you gotta worry about.”

“Of course,” Nicole said.

“I’m glad we understand each other,” Wynonna said. She started walking backwards towards the house, giving Nicole an awkward half-salute before she finally turned around. She stopped abruptly and turned back to face Nicole again. “By the way, Waverly wants to talk to you about something. When you’re finished with your car.”

Nicole was still trying to process their unexpectedly short conversation. Was that really all there was to it? “Uh, okay,” she said.

About half an hour later, she found herself on the porch with Waverly, both of them balancing plates on their lap, each with triangular half of a grilled cheese sandwich. Dolls and Doc went to town to the mechanic’s, Rosita was in her bedroom writing reports for her PhD, and Wynonna had managed to drag Jeremy out to buy liquor.

“So, Wynonna said you wanted to talk to me about something,” Nicole said.

Waverly pinched the bridge of her nose. “She still can’t ever let me do things for myself, can she?”

“If she hadn’t said anything I would’ve spent the whole day waxing my car,” Nicole joked.

“Well, I suppose she means well,” Waverly said, chuckling.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Nicole asked.

Waverly shifted in her seat. “I know that we haven’t had much time to talk about it, with everything that’s going on… But the summer is nearly over, and I guess I wanted to know… Uh, what are we? Are we, uh, girlfriends?”

Nicole wanted to laugh, but couldn’t bring herself to. She was too busy feeling ridiculously lucky. Waverly, possibly the most amazing person she has ever met, was sitting in front of her, wringing her hands and biting her lip, asking if she was _her_ girlfriend. Finally, she managed to respond: “Of course we’re girlfriends. If you want to be, that is.”

“There’s nothing more I want at this point,” Waverly said. “But you’re leaving Purgatory soon.”

“So are you,” Nicole said.

“What will happen to us then?” Waverly asked.

“I’ll just be in Banff, and you’ll be in Calgary. We’ll make it work,” Nicole said.

Waverly frowned. “I’m not gonna be in Calgary forever,” she said. “I’ve told you that I wanted to get out of Alberta. I want to see other places.”

“Waverly, I know that you’re the kind of person who likes to plan a year ahead, but how about we cross that bridge when we come to it?” Nicole reached out and took one of Waverly’s hands. She squeezed it gently, to get Waverly to look at her. “For the year, at least, we’ll be in Alberta together. We’ll see each other on our breaks. We can visit each other and everything. And then we’ll decide what to do next together.”

“You’re more optimistic about this than I thought you would be,” Waverly said.

Nicole shrugged. “This,” she gestured between the two of them, “this is something that I’m willing to work on. I feel right about you. About us,” she admitted. “Don’t you feel the same way?”

Waverly smiled, but her smile wasn’t the most important part. It was the glow in her eyes as they looked into Nicole’s. “I do,” she said. “Of course I do.”

Nicole squeezed Waverly’s hand again. “Then let’s be optimistic together.”

* * *

For the first time in her life, Waverly was looking at the ocean. It was even better than she had imagined. Nicole, however, was not a big fan.

It had been Nicole’s idea to spend Waverly’s spring break in Vancouver. She got some time off from her training, and they got on a bus from Calgary together.

Waverly usually spent spring break with Wynonna and Doc in Purgatory, but she didn’t feel bad about leaving them alone there. The last she heard from Wynonna, Dolls had turned up at the homestead out of the blue, apparently also getting a break from whatever he was doing when it wasn’t storm season.

Waverly and Nicole stayed in Jeremy’s townhouse, in one of the middle-class Metro Vancouver suburbs, because staying somewhere closer to the beach was out of their price range. It was at least half an hour on the train to get to anywhere, but they made an adventure out of it. They would get up around eight or nine in the morning, usually see Jeremy off as he left for university, and then leave the house within the hour. They would get home in time for dinner with Jeremy, or they’d have dinner out and come home to join him on the couch for Netflix and tea.

That day, they were on the beach, and while Waverly was itching to get into the water, Nicole seemed pretty set on staying on the beach, laying down on a blanket and listening to music on her headphones.

“Come on, baby,” Waverly said, pouting. “We’re supposed to get in the water _together_. That’s the point of coming here.”

“You go ahead. I’m not really a big fan of swimming, Waves,” Nicole said.

Waverly resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She pulled her sheer top off, revealing her bikini top. Perhaps that would entice Nicole. She gave her a look that asked _Do you really want me to go swimming alone? Looking like this?_ She was pleased to see that Nicole sat up a little bit from her position on the blanket.

“Waverly.” Nicole was more engaged in their conversation, but she still didn’t look like she was going to get up.

“This is a big moment for me. I’ve never been swimming in the ocean before,” Waverly said. “I want you to share this with me.”

This seemed to persuade Nicole. She sat all the way up and began unbuttoning the linen shirt she was wearing. Underneath, she wore a navy one-piece with a low back. This wasn’t a surprise to Waverly; she had applied sunscreen on Nicole’s back and shoulders before they left the house. “All right,” Nicole said, as she shimmied out of her olive shorts. “Let’s get in the water.”

Waverly clapped her hands. She waited for Nicole to get to her feet so she could wrap her arms around Nicole’s neck. Waverly pulled her close and inhaled. She smelled both of the sun and sunscreen. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” Nicole whispered back, her arms around Waverly’s waist.

“For being you,” Waverly said. “For being here.”

“I’ll always be here, Waves,” Nicole said.

Waverly pulled back a little and grinned up at Nicole. “Good,” she said. She stepped out of Nicole’s embrace and took her hand.

The beach was crowded that day, but the two of them seemed to not notice, with the way they walked into the water.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write a Wynonna Earp storm chasing AU for ages now. I even have two and a bit chapters of the first version hanging out in one of my folders. But I abandoned it for a while because I didn't quite know where the story was going. Turns out what I needed was an entire plot revision! So here we go... My first venture into writing for the Wynonna Earp fandom. Please leave a comment below to tell me what you think!


End file.
